GIFT  OF 
D.    C.    Fes  sen-! en 


HISTORY 


NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS 


BY 


RICHARD    B.  IRWIN 

FORMERLY  LIEUTENANT-COLONEL   U.  S.    VOLUNTEERS,  ASSISTANT 

ADJUTANT-GENERAL   OF   THE   CORPS   AND    OF 

THE    DEPARTMENT   OF   THE    GULF 


G.  P.  PUTNAM'S   SONS 

NEW   YORK  LONDON 

27   WEST  TWENTY-THIRD   STREET  24    BEDFORD   STREET,   STRAND 

&fje  fimtherbockex  |)ress 
1892 


oJ 


\SK 


COPYRIGHT,  1892 

BY 
G.  P.  PUTNAM'S   SONS 


Electrotyped,  Printed,  and  Bound  by 

Ube  Iknicfcerbccfcer  ipress,  1Wew  Uor?? 
G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 


IN   LOVING   REMEMBRANCE   OF   THEIR 
LATE    COMMANDER 

MAJOR-GENERAL    WILLIAM    HEMSLEY    EMORY 

AND    OF   THE   MANY   COMRADES 

WHO    LAID    DOWN   THEIR   LIVES   IN   THE    SERVICE   OF   THEIR   COUNTRY 
THIS    HISTORY   IS   INSCRIBED    BY    THE 

SURVIVING   MEMBERS   OF   THE 
SOCIETY  OF  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS 


M94884: 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER. 

INTRODUCTORY    . 

I.    NEW  ORLEANS  . 
II.    THE  FIRST  ATTEMPT  ON  VICKSBURG 

III.  BATON  ROUGE    . 

IV.  LA  FOURCHE     . 

V.  BANKS  IN  COMMAND 

VI.  ORGANIZING  THE  CORPS   . 

VII.  MORE  WAYS  THAN  ONE  . 

VIII.  FARRAGUT  PASSES  PORT  HUDSON  . 

IX.  THE  TECHE 

X.      BlSLAND       . 

XL  IRISH  BEND 

XII.  OPELOUSAS 

XIII.  BANKS  AND  GRANT   . 

XIV.  ALEXANDRIA 

XV.  BACK  TO  PORT  HUDSON  . 

XVI.  THE  TWENTY-SEVENTH  OF  MAY 

XVII.  THE  FOURTEENTH  OF  JUNE    . 

XVIII.  UNVEXED  TO  THE  SEA     . 

XIX.  HARROWING  LA  FOURCHE 

XX.  IN  SUMMER  QUARTERS     . 

XXI.  A  FOOTHOLD  IN  TEXAS  . 

XXII.  WINTER  QUARTERS  . 

XXIII.  THE  RED  RIVER 

XXIV.  SABINE  CROSS-ROADS 


i 

3 

17 
32 
43 
52 
66 
72 
77 
8$ 
94 
104 

121 

135 
M3 

152 

163 
I85 
209 

235 
256 
264 

277 
282 

2Q9 


VI 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER. 

XXV.  PLEASANT  HILL         .  * 

XXVI.  GRAND  ECORE 

XXVII.  THE  CROSSING  OF  CANE  RIVER 

XXVIII.  THE  DAM   .        .        .        .      '  . 

XXIX.  LAST  DAYS  IN  LOUISIANA 

XXX.  ON  THE  POTOMAC     .        .        .        .        . 

XXXI.  IN  THE  SHENANDOAH       . 

XXXII.  THE  OPEQUON  .  . 

XXXIII.  FISHER'S  HILL  .  . 

XXXIV.  CEDAR  CREEK    . 

XXXV.    VICTORY  AND   HOME      ,  ,        .        .        . 

APPENDIX  : 

ROSTERS    ....       . 

LOSSES  IN  BATTLE    .        .        .   /  .       .       . 
OFFICERS  KILLED  OR  MORTALLY  WOUNDED, 
PORT  HUDSON  FORLORN  HOPE      . 
ARTICLES  OF  CAPITULATION    .        . 
NOTE  ON  EARLY'S  STRENGTH         .        . 
INDEX 


323 

328 

337 
344 
355 
368 

378 
396 


439 


464 

483 
488 
506 

507 
509 


MAPS  AND    PLANS. 


PAGE 

MAP  OF  LOUISIANA.     SHEET  I.  .16  and  17 

"      "  II.         .         .         .  32    ''    33 

»«      «  "  III.       .         .         .  80     "    81 

BATTLE  PLAN  OF  BISLAND,  APRIL  12-13,  1863         .      96 

BATTLE  PLAN  OF  IRISH  BEND,  APRIL  14,  1863        .    112 

BATTLE  PLAN  OF  PORT  HUDSON.     .  .    192 

MAP  OF  LOUISIANA.    SHEET  IV.      .  288  and  289 

BATTLE  PLAN  OF  SABINE  CROSS-ROADS,  APRIL  8, 

1864.    FROM  GENERAL  EMORY'S  MAP  .    304 

BATTLE  PLAN  OF  PLEASANT   HILL,  APRIL  9,  1864. 

FROM  GENERAL  EMORY'S  MAP  .  .    32° 

BATTLE  PLAN  OF  CANE  RIVER  CROSSING  OR 
MONETT'S  BLUFF,  APRIL  23,  1864.  FROM  GEN 
ERAL  EMORY'S  MAP  ...  . 

THE  RED  RIVER  DAM        ...  . 

MAP  OF  SHENANDOAH  VALLEY  CAMPAIGN.  FROM 
MAJOR  W.  F.  TIEMANN'S  "HISTORY  OF  THE 
159TH,  NEW  YORK'  ...  . 

BATTLE  PLAN  OF  OPEQUON,  SEPTEMBER  19,  1864. 
FROM  THE  OFFICIAL  MAP,  1873  •  3§4  aiid 

BATTLE  PLAN  OF  FISHER'S  HILL,  SEPTEMBER  22, 

1864.    FROM  THE  OFFICIAL  MAP       .  .    400 

BATTLE  PLAN  OF  CEDAR  CREEK,  OCTOBER  19,  1864. 

FROM  THE  OFFICIAL  MAP  OF  1873    .       4l6  and  4*7 


INTRODUCTORY. 

THE  history  of  the  Nineteenth  Army  Corps,  like 
that  of  by  far  the  greater  number  of  the  organizations 
of  like  character,  in  which  were  arrayed  the  great 
armies  of  volunteers  that  took  up  arms  to  maintain 
the  Union,  is  properly  the  history  of  all  the  troops 
that  at  any  time  belonged  to  the  corps  or  served 
within  its  geographical  limits. 

To  be  complete,  then,  the  narrative  my  comrades 
have  asked  me  to  write  must  go  back  to  the  earliest 
service  of  these  troops,  at  a  period  before  the  corps 
itself  was  formally  established,  and  must  continue  on 
past  the  time  when  the  earlier  territorial  organization 
became  merged  or  lost  and  the  main  body  of  the  corps 
was  sent  into  the  Shenandoah,  down  to  the  peace,  and 
the  final  muster  of  the  last  regiment. 

If  hitherto  less  known  and  thus  less  considered 
than  the  proud  record  of  those  great  corps  of  the 
Armies  of  the  Potomac,  of  the  Tennessee,  and  of  the 
Cumberland,  on  whom  in  the  fortune  of  war  fell  the 
heat  and  burthen  of  so  many  pitched  battles,  whose 
colors  bear  the  names  of  so  many  decisive  victories, 
yet  the  story  of  the  Nineteenth  Army  Corps  is  one 
whose  simple  facts  suffice  for  all  that  need  be  told  or 
claimed  of  valor,  of  achievement,  of  sacrifice,  or  of 
patient  endurance.  I  shall,  therefore,  attempt  neither 
eulogy  nor  apology,  nor  shall  I  feel  called  upon  to 


2  INTRO  D  UCTOR  Y. 

undertake  to  criticise  the  actions  or  the  failures  of  the 
living  or  the  dead,  save  where  such  criticism  may 
prove  to  be  an  essential  part  of  the  narrative.  From 
the  brows  of  other  soldiers,  no  one  of  us  could  ever 
wish  to  pluck  the  wreaths  so  dearly  won,  so  honor 
ably  worn  ;  yet,  since  the  laurel  grows  wild  on  every 
hill-side  in  this  favored  land,  we  may  without  trespass 
be  permitted  to  gather  a  single  spray  or  two  to 
decorate  the  sacred  places  where  beneath  the  cypresses 
and  the  magnolias  of  the  lowlands  of  Louisiana,  or 
under  the  green  turf  among  the  mountains  of  Vir 
ginia,  reposes  all  that  was  mortal  of  so  many  thou 
sands  of  our  brave  and  beloved  comrades. 


THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 


CHAPTER  i: 

NEW  ORLEANS. 

THE  opening  of  the  Mississippi  and  the  capture  of 
New  Orleans  formed  important  parts  of  the  first 
comprehensive  plan  of  campaign,  conceived  and  pro 
posed  by  Lieutenant-General  Scott  soon  after  the 
outbreak  of  the  war.  When  McClellan  was  called  to 
Washington  to  command  the  Army  of  the  Potomac, 
one  of  his  earliest  communications  to  the  President 
set  forth  in  general  terms  his  plans  for  the  suppres 
sion  of  the  Rebellion.  Of  these  plans,  also,  the  cap 
ture  of  New  Orleans  formed  an  integral  and  important 
part.  Both  Scott  and  McClellan  contemplated  a  move 
ment  down  the  river  by  a  strong  column.  However 
nothing  had  been  done  by  either  toward  carrying  out 
this  project,  when,  in  September,  1861,  the  Navy 
Department  took  up  the  idea  of  an  attack  on  New 
Orleans  from  the  sea. 

At  the  time  of  the  secession  of  Louisiana,  New 
Orleans  was  not  only  the  first  city  in  wealth,  popula 
tion,  and  importance  in  the  seceded  States,  but  the 
sixth  in  all  the  Union.  With  a  population  of  nearly 
170,000  souls,  she  carried  on  an  export  trade  larger 

3 


4  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

than  that  of  any  other  port  in  the  country,  and  en 
joyed  a  commerce  in  magnitude  and  profit  second 
only  to  that  of  New  York.  The  year  just  ended 
had  witnessed  the  production  of  the  largest  crop 
of  cotton  ever  grown  in  America,  fully  two  fifths  of 
which  passed  through  the  presses  and  paid  toll  to  the 
.factors  of.  New.  Orleans.  The  receipts  of  cotton  at 

1860-1861  were  but  little  less  than 
;  bales/t  valued  at  nearly  $100,000,000.  Of 
SUg£r> •&airiLy:t&6  production  of  the  State  of  Louisi 
ana,  the  receipts  considerably  exceeded  250,000  tons, 
valued  at  more  than  $25,000,000  ;  the  total  receipts  of 
products  of  all  kinds  amounted  to  nearly  $200,000,- 
ooo.  The  exports  were  valued  at  nearly  $110,000,- 
ooo  ;  the  imports  at  nearly  $23,000,000.  It  is  doubtful 
if  any  other  crop  in  any  part  of  the  world  then  paid 
profits  at  once  so  large  and  so  uniform  to  all  persons 
interested  as  the  cotton  and  sugar  of  Louisiana. 
If  cotton  were  not  exactly  king,  as  it  was  in  those 
days  the  fashion  to  assert,  there  could  be  no  doubt 
that  cotton  was  a  banker,  and  a  generous  banker  for 
New  Orleans.  The  factors  of  Carondelet  Street  grew 
rich  upon  the  great  profits  that  the  planters  of  the 
"coast,"  as  the  shores  of  the  river  are  called,  paid 
them,  almost  without  feeling  it,  while  the  planters 
came,  nearly  every  winter,  to  New  Orleans  to  pass 
the  season  and  to  spend,  in  a  round  of  pleasure,  at 
least  a  portion  of  the  net  proceeds  of  the  account 
sales.  In  the  transport  of  these  products  nearly  two 
thousand  sailing  ships  and  steamers  were  engaged, 
and  in  the  town  itself  or  its  suburb  of  Algiers,  on 
the  opposite  bank,  were  to  be  found  all  the  appli 
ances  and  facilities  necessary  for  the  conduct  of  so 
extensive  a  commerce.  These,  especially  the  work- 


NEW  ORLEANS.  5 

shops  and  factories,  and  the  innumerable  river  and 
bayou  steamers  that  thronged  the  levee,  were  des 
tined  to  prove  of  the  greatest  military  value,  at  first 
to  the  Confederacy,  and  later  to  the  forces  of  the 
Union.  For  food  and  fuel,  however,  New  Orleans 
was  largely  dependent  upon  the  North  and  West. 
Finally,  beside  her  importance  as  the  guardian  of  the 
gates  of  the  Mississippi,  New  Orleans  had  a  direct 
military  value  as  the  basis  of  any  operations  destined 
for  the  control  or  defence  of  the  Mississippi  River. 

About  the  middle  of  November  the  plan  took 
definite  shape,  and  on  the  23d  of  December  Far- 
ragut  received  preparatory  orders  to  take  command 
of  the  West  Gulf  Squadron  and  the  naval  portion 
of  the  expedition  destined  for  the  reduction  of  New 
Orleans.  Farragut  received  his  final  orders  on  the 
2Oth  of  January,  1862,  and  immediately  afterward 
hoisted  his  flag  on  the  sloop-of-war  Hartford. 

The  land  portion  of  the  expedition  was  placed 
under  the  command  of  Major-General  Benjamin  F. 
Butler.  On  the  loth  and  i2th  of  September,  1861, 
Butler  had  been  authorized  by  the  War  Department 
to  raise,  organize,  arm,  uniform,  and  equip,  in  the 
New  England  States,  such  troops  as  he  might  judge 
fit  for  the  purpose,  to  make  an  expedition  along 
the  eastern  shore  of  Maryland  and  Virginia  to  Cape 
Charles  ;  but  early  in  November,  before  Butler's 
forces  were  quite  ready,  these  objects  were  accom 
plished  by  a  brigade  under  Lockwood,  sent  from 
Baltimore  by  Dix.  On  the  23d  of  November  the 
advance  of  Butler's  expedition  sailed  from  Portland, 
Maine,  for  Ship  Island,  in  the  steamer  Constitution, 
and  on  the  2d  of  December,  in  reporting  the  sailing, 
Butler  submitted  to  the  War  Department  his  plan  for 


6  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

invading  the  coast  of  Texas  and  the  ultimate  capture 
of  New  Orleans. 

On  the  24th  of  January,  1862,  McClellan,  then 
commanding  all  the  armies  of  the  United  States,  was 
called  on  by  the  Secretary  of  War  to  report  whether 
the  expedition  proposed  by  General  Butler  should 
be  prosecuted,  abandoned,  or  modified,  and  in  what 
manner.  McClellan  at  once  urged  that  the  expedi 
tion  be  suspended.  In  his  opinion,  "not  less  than 
30,000  men,  and  it  is  believed  50,000,  would  be  re 
quired  to  insure  success  against  New  Orleans  in  a 
blow  to  be  struck  from  the  Gulf."  This  suggestion 
did  not  meet  the  approval  of  the  government,  now 
fully  determined  on  the  enterprise. 

Brigadier-General  J.  G.  Barnard,  the  chief  engi 
neer  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  an  engineer  also  of 
more  than  common  ability,  energy,  and  experience, 
was  now  called  into  consultation.  On  the  28th  of 
January,  1862,  he  submitted  to  the  Navy  Depart 
ment  a  memorandum  describing  fully  the  defences  of 
Forts  Jackson  and  St.  Philip  and  outlining  a  plan  for 
a  combined  attempt  on  these  works  by  the  army  and 
navy.  The  military  force  required  for  the  purpose 
he  estimated  at  20,000  men. 

Meanwhile  the  work  of  transferring  Butler's  forces 
by  sea  to  Ship  Island  had  been  going  on  with  vigor. 
He  had  raised  thirteen  regiments  of  infantry,  ten 
batteries  of  light  artillery,  and  three  troops  of  cavalry, 
numbering  in  all  about  13,600  men.  To  these  were 
now  added  from  the  garrison  of  Baltimore  three 
regiments,  the  2ist  Indiana,  4th  Wisconsin,  and  6th 
Michigan,  and  the  2d  Massachusetts  battery,  thus 
increasing  his  force  to  14,400  infantry,  275  cavalry, 
and  580  artillerists;  in  all,  15,255  officers  and  men. 


NEW  ORLEANS.  7 

On  the  23d  of  February,  1862,  Butler  received  his 
final  orders  :  "  The  object  of  your  expedition,"  said 
McClellan,  "  is  one  of  vital  importance — the  capture 
of  New  Orleans.  The  route  selected  is  up  the  Missis 
sippi  River,  and  the  first  obstacle  to  be  encountered 
(perhaps  the  only  one)  is  in  the  resistance  offered  by 
Forts  St.  Philip  and  Jackson.  It  is  expected  that 
the  navy  can  reduce  these  works.  Should  the  navy 
fail  to  reduce  the  works,  you  will  land  your  forces 
and  siege-train,  and  endeavor  to  breach  the  works, 
silence  their  guns,  and  carry  them  by  assault. 

"The  next  resistance  will  be  near  the  English 
bend,  where  there  are  some  earthen  batteries.  Here 
it  may  be  necessary  for  you  to  land  your  troops  to 
co-operate  with  the  naval  attack,  although  it  is  more 
than  probable  that  the  navy,  unassisted,  can  accom 
plish  the  result.  If  these  works  are  taken,  the  city 
of  New  Orleans  necessarily  falls." 

After  obtaining  possession  of  New  Orleans,  the 
instructions  went  on  to  say,  Butler  was  to  reduce  all 
the  works  guarding  the  approaches,  to  join  with  the 
navy  in  occupying  Baton  Rouge,  and  then  to  en 
deavor  to  open  communication  with  the  northern 
column  by  the  Mississippi,  always  bearing  in  mind  the 
necessity  of  occupying  Jackson,  as  soon  as  this  could 
safely  be  done.  Mobile  was  to  follow,  then  Pensa- 
cola  and  Galveston.  By  the  time  New  Orleans  should 
have  fallen  the  government  would  probably  reinforce 
his  army  sufficiently  to  accomplish  all  these  objects. 

On  the  same  day  a  new  military  department  was 
created  called  the  Department  of  the  Gulf,  and 
Butler  was  assigned  to  the  command.  Its  limits 
were  to  comprise  all  the  coast  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico 
west  of  Pensacola  harbor,  and  so  much  of  the  Gulf 


8  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

States  as  might  be  occupied  by  Butler's  forces.  Since 
the  middle  of  October  he  had  commanded  the  expe 
ditionary  forces,  under  the  name  of  the  Department 
of  New  England. 

Arriving  at  Ship  Island  on  the  2oth  of  March, 
he  formally  assumed  the  command  of  the  Department 
of  the  Gulf,  announcing  Major  George  C.  Strong, 
as  Assistant  Adjutant-General  and  Chief  of  Staff, 
Lieutenant  Godfrey  Weitzel  as  Chief  Engineer,  and 
Surgeon  Thomas  Hewson  Bache  as  Medical  Director. 
To  these  were  afterward  added  Colonel  John  Wilson 
Shaffer  as  Chief  Quartermaster,  Colonel  John  W. 
Turner,  as  Chief  Commissary,  and  Captain  George  A. 
Kensel,  as  Acting  Assistant  Inspector-General  and 
Chief  of  Artillery. 

By  the  end  of  March  all  the  troops  destined  for 
the  expedition  had  landed  at  Ship  Island,  with  the 
exception  of  the  i3th  Connecticut,  i5th  Maine, 
7th  and  8th  Vermont  regiments,  ist  Vermont  and 
2d  Massachusetts  batteries.  Within  the  next  fort 
night  all  these  troops  joined  the  force  except  the 
2d  Massachusetts  battery,  which  being  detained 
more  than  seven  weeks  at  Fortress  Monroe,  and 
being  nearly  five  weeks  at  sea,  did  not  reach  New 
Orleans  until  the  2ist  of  May.  Meanwhile,  of  the 
six  Maine  batteries,  all  except  the  ist  had  been  di 
verted  to  other  fields  of  service. 

While  awaiting  at  Ship  Island  the  completion  of  the 
preparations  of  the  navy  for  the  final  attempt  on  the 
river  forts,  Butler  proceeded  to  organize  his  com 
mand  and  to  discipline  and  drill  the  troops  composing 
it.  Many  of  these  were  entirely  without  instruction 
in  any  of  the  details  of  service.  On  the  22d  of 
March,  he  divided  his  forces  into  three  brigades  of  five 


NEW  ORLEANS.  9 

or  six  regiments  each,  attaching  to  each  brigade  one 
or  more  batteries  of  artillery  and  a  troop  of  cavalry. 
The  brigades  were  commanded  by  Brigadier-Generals 
John  W.  Phelps  and  Thomas  Williams,  and  Colonel 
George  F.  Shepley  of  the  I2th  Maine.  When  finally 
assembled  the  whole  force  reported  about  13,500 
officers  and  men  for  duty,  and  from  that  moment 
its  strength  was  destined  to  undergo  a  steady  diminu 
tion  by  the  natural  attrition  of  service,  augmented,  in 
this  case,  by  climatic  influences. 

The  fleet  under  Farragut  consisted  of  seventeen 
vessels,  mounting  154  guns.  Four  were  screw-sloops, 
one  a  side-wheel  steamer,  three  screw  corvettes,  and 
nine  screw  gunboats.  Each  of  the  gunboats  carried 
one  i  i-inch  smooth-bore  gun,  and  one  3O-pounder 
rifle ;  but  neither  of  these  could  be  used  to  fire  at  an 
enemy  directly  ahead,  and,  in  the  operations  awaiting 
the  fleet,  it  is  within  bounds  to  say  that  not  more 
than  one  gun  in  four  could  be  brought  to  bear  at  any 
given  moment.  With  this  fleet  were  twenty  mortar- 
boats,  under  Porter,  each  carrying  one  1 3-inch 
mortar,  and  six  gunboats,  assigned  for  the  service  of 
the  mortar-boats  and  armed  like  the  gunboats  of  the 
river  fleet.  Farragut,  with  the  Hartford,  had  reached 
Ship  Island  on  the  2oth  of  February ;  the  rest  of  the 
vessels  assigned  to  his  fleet  soon  followed.  Then 
entering  the  delta,  from  that  time  he  conducted  the 
blockade  of  the  river  from  the  head  of  the  passes. 

The  Confederacy  was  now  being  so  closely  pressed 
in  every  quarter  as  to  make  it  impossible,  with  the 
forces  at  its  command,  to  defend  effectively  and  at  the 
same  moment  every  point  menaced  by  the  troops 
and  fleets  of  the  Union.  Thus  the  force  that  might 
otherwise  have  been  employed  hi  defending  New 


io  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

Orleans  was,  under  the  pressure  of  the  emergency, 
so  heavily  drawn  from  to  strengthen  the  army  at 
Corinth,  then  engaged  in  resisting  the  southward 
advance  of  the  combined  armies  of  the  Union  under 
Halleck,  as  to  leave  New  Orleans,  and  indeed  all 
Louisiana,  at  the  mercy  of  any  enemy  that  should 
succeed  in  passing  the  river  forts.  At  this  time  the 
entire  land-force,  under  Major-General  Mansfield 
Lovell,  hardly  exceeded  5,000  men.  Of  these,  1,100 
occupied  Forts  Jackson  and  St.  Philip,  under  the 
command  of  General  Duncan  ;  1,200  held  the  Chal- 
mette  line,  under  General  Martin  L.  Smith,  and  about 
3,000,  chiefly  new  levies,  badly  armed,  were  in  New 
Orleans.  Besides  this  small  land-force,  the  floating 
defences  consisted  of  four  improvised  vessels  of  the 
Confederate  navy,  two  belonging  to  the  State  of 
Louisiana,  and  six  others  of  what  was  called  the 
Montgomery  fleet.  These  were  boats  specially  con 
structed  for  the  defence  of  the  river,  but  most  of  them 
had  been  sent  up  the  river  to  Memphis  to  hold  off 
Foote  and  Davis.  The  twelve  vessels  carried  in  all 
thirty-eight  guns.  Each  of  the  boats  of  the  river- 
fleet  defence  had  its  bows  shod  with  iron  and  its 
engines  protected  with  cotton.  This  was  also  the 
case  with  the  two  sea-going  steamers  belonging  to  the 
State,  Of  this  flotilla  the  most  powerful  was  the 
iron-clad  Louisiana^  whose  armor  was  found  strong 
enough  to  turn  an  n-inch  shell  at  short  range,  and, 
as  her  armament  consisted  of  two  7-inch  rifles,  three 
9-inch  shell  guns,  four  1 8-inch  shell  guns,  and  seven 
6-inch  rifles,  she  might  have  proved  a  formidable 
foe  had  her  engines  been  equal  to  their  work. 

At  the  Plaquemine  Bend,  twenty  miles  above  the 
head  of  the  passes  and  ninety  below  New  Orleans,  the 


NEW  ORLEANS.  n 

engineers  of  the  United  States  had  constructed  two 
permanent  fortifications,  designed  to  defend  the 
entrance  of  the  river  against  the  foreign  enemies  of 
the  Union.  These  formidable  works  had  now  to  be 
passed  or  taken  before  New  Orleans  could  be  occu 
pied.  Fort  St.  Philip,  on  the  left  or  north  bank,  was  a 
work  of  brick  and  earth,  flanked  on  either  hand  by  a 
water  battery.  In  the  main  work  were  mounted,  in 
barbette,  four  8-inch  columbiads  and  one  24-pounder 
gun  ;  the  upper  water  battery  carried  sixteen  24- 
pounders,  the  lower  one  8-inch  columbiad,  one  7-inch 
rifle,  six  42-pounders,  nine  32-pounders,  and  four  24- 
pounders.  Besides  these,  there  were  seven  mortars, 
one  of  13-inch  calibre,  five  of  lo-inch,  and  one  of 
8-inch.  Forty-two  of  the  guns  could  be  brought  to 
bear  upon  the  fleet  ascending  the  river. 

Fort  Jackson,  on  the  south  or  left  bank  of  the  river, 
was  a  casemated  pentagon  of  brick,  mounting  in  the 
casemates  fourteen  24-pounder  guns,  and  ten  24- 
pounder  howitzers,  and  in  barbette  in  the  upper  tier 
two  lo-inch  columbiads,  three  8-inch  columbiads,  one 
7-inch  rifle,  six  42-pounders,  fifteen  32-pounders,  and 
eleven  24-pounders,  in  all  sixty-two  guns.  The  water 
battery  below  the  main  work  was  armed  with  one 
lo-inch  columbiad,  two  8-inch  columbiads,  and  two 
rifled  32-pounders.  Fifty  of  these  pieces  were  avail 
able  against  the  fleet,  but  of  the  whole  armament  of 
one  hundred  and  nine  guns,  fifty-six  were  old  24- 
pounder  smooth-bores. 

The  passage  of  the  forts  had  been  obstructed  by  a 
raft  or  chain  anchored  between  them.  The  forts  once 
overcome,  no  other  defence  remained  to  be  encoun 
tered  until  English  Turn  was  reached,  where  earth 
works  had  been  thrown  up  on  both  banks.  Here  at 


12  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

Chalmette,  on  the  left  bank,  it  was  that,  in  1815, 
Jackson,  with  his  handful  of  raw  levies,  so  signally 
defeated  Wellington's  veterans  of  the  Peninsula, 
under  the  leadership  of  the  fearless  Pakenham. 

Fort  St.  Philip  stands  about  700  yards  higher  up 
the  river  than  Fort  Jackson  ;  the  river  at  this  point  is 
about  800  yards  wide,  and  the  distance  between  the 
nearest  salients  of  the  main  works  is  about  1,000  yards. 
A  vessel  attempting  to  run  the  gauntlet  of  the  bat 
teries  would  be  under  fire  while  passing  over  a  dis 
tance  of  three  and  a  half  miles.  The  river  was  now 
high,  and  the  banks,  everywhere  below  the  river  level, 
and  only  protected  from  inundation  by  the  levees, 
were  overflowed.  There  was  no  standing  room 
for  an  investing  army  ;  the  lower  guns  were  under 
water,  and  in  the  very  forts  the  platforms  were 
awash. 

When  the  fleet  was  ready,  Butler  embarked  eight 
regiments  and  three  batteries  under  Phelps  and  Wil 
liams  on  transports,  and,  going  to  the  head  of  the 
passes,  held  his  troops  in  readiness  to  co-operate  with 
the  navy.  On  the  i6th  of  April  the  fleet  took  up  its 
position.  The  mortar-boats,  or  "  bombers/'  as  they 
began  to  be  called,  were  anchored  between  3,000  and 
4,000  yards  below  Fort  Jackson,  upon  which  the 
attack  was  mainly  to  be  directed.  From  the  view  of 
those  in  the  fort,  the  boats  that  lay  under  the  right 
bank  were  covered  by  trees.  Those  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  river  were  screened,  after  a  fashion,  by 
covering  their  hulls  with  reeds  and  willows,  cut  for 
the  purpose. 

On  the  1 8th  of  April  the  bombardment  began. 
It  soon  became  evident  that  success  was  not  to  be  at 
tained  in  this  way,  and  Farragut  determined  upon 


NEW  ORLEANS.  13 

passing  the  forts  with  his  fleet.  Should  he  fail 
in  reducing  them  by  this  movement,  Butler  was  to 
land  in  the  rear  of  Fort  St.  Philip,  near  Quarantine, 
and  carry  the  works  by  storm.  Accordingly,  he 
remained  with  his  transports  below  the  forts,  and 
waited  for  the  hour.  Shepley  occupied  Ship  Island 
with  the  rest  of  the  force. 

Early  in  March  the  raft,  formed  of  great  cypress 
trees,  forty  feet  long  and  fifty  inches  through,  laid 
lengthwise  in  the  river  about  three  feet  apart,  anchored 
by  heavy  chains  and  strengthened  by  massive  cross- 
timbers,  had  been  partly  carried  away  by  the  flood. 
To  make  good  the  damage,  a  number  of  large 
schooners  had  then  been  anchored  in  the  gap.  On 
the  morning  of  the  2ist  of  April  this  formidable 
obstruction  was  cleverly  and  in  a  most  gallant  manner 
broken  through  by  the  fleet. 

On  the  night  of  the  23d  of  April,  Farragut  moved 
to  the  attack.  His  fleet,  organized  in  three  divisions 
of  eight,  three,  and  six  vessels  respectively,  was 
formed  in  line  ahead.  The  first  division  was  led  by 
Captain  Bailey,  in  the  Cayuga,  followed  by  the 
Pensacola,  Mississippi,  Oneida,  Varuna,  Katahdin, 
Kineo,  and  Wissahickon  ;  the  second  division  followed, 
composed  of  Farragut's  flag-ship,  the  Hartford,  Com 
mander  Richard  Wainwright,  the  Brooklyn,  and  the 
Richmond ;  while  the  third  division,  forming  the  rear 
of  the  column,  was  led  by  Captain  Bell,  in  the  Sciota, 
followed  by  the  Iroquois,  Kennebec,  Pinola,  Itasca, 
and  Winona. 

At  half-past  two  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  24th 
of  April  the  whole  fleet  was  under  way ;  a  quarter  of 
an  hour  later  the  batteries  of  Forts  Jackson  and  St. 
Philip  opened  simultaneously  upon  the  Cayuga.  It  was 


14  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

some  time  before  the  navy  could  reply,  but  soon 
every  gun  was  in  action.  Beset  by  perils  on  every 
hand,  the  fleet  pressed  steadily  up  the  river.  The 
Confederate  boats  were  destroyed,  the  fire-rafts  were 
overcome,  the  gunners  of  the  forts  were  driven  from 
their  guns,  and  when  the  sun  rose  Farragut  was 
above  the  forts  with  the  whole  of  his  fleet,  except 
the  Itasca,  Winona,  and  Kennebec,  which  put  back  dis 
abled,  and  the  Varuna,  sunk  by  the  Confederate  gun 
boats.  The  next  afternoon,  having  made  short  work 
of  Chalmette,  Farragut  anchored  off  New  Orleans, 
and  held  the  town  at  his  mercy. 

The  casualties  were  37  killed  and  147  wounded, 
in  all  184.  The  Confederate  loss  was  50,  n  killed 
and  39  wounded.  The  Louisiana,  McCrea,  and  De 
fiance,  sole  survivors  of  the  Confederate  fleet,  escap 
ing  comparatively  unhurt,  took  refuge  under  the 
walls  of  Fort  St.  Philip. 

Leaving  Phelps,  with  the  3Oth  Massachusetts  and 
T2th  Connecticut  and  Manning's  4th  Massachusetts 
battery,  at  the  head  of  the  passes,  in  order  to  be 
prepared  to  occupy  the  works  immediately  on  their 
surrender,  Butler  hastened  with  the  rest  of  his  force 
to  Sable  Island  in  the  rear  of  Fort  St.  Philip.  When 
the  transports  came  to  anchor  on  the  morning  of  the 
26th,  the  Confederate  flags  on  Forts  St.  Philip  and 
Jackson  were  plainly  visible  to  the  men  on  board, 
while  these,  in  their  turn,  were  seen  from  the  forts. 
Here  the  troops  received  the  news  of  Farragut's 
arrival  at  New  Orleans.  On  the  morning  of  the  28th 
they  saw  the  Confederate  ram  Louisiana  blown  up 
while  floating  past  the  forts,  and  on  the  same  day 
Jones  landed  with  the  26th  Massachusetts  and  Paine 
with  two  companies  of  the  4th  Wisconsin  and  a  de- 


NEW  ORLEANS.  15 

tachment  of  the  2ist  Indiana,  to  work  their  way 
through  a  small  canal  to  Quarantine,  six  miles  above 
Fort  St.  Philip,  for  the  purpose  of  seizing  the  narrow 
strip  by  which  the  garrison  must  escape,  if  at  all. 
This  was  only  accomplished  by  a  long  and  tiresome 
transport  in  boats,  and  finally  by  wading.  However, 
at  half-past  two  on  the  afternoon  of  the  28th  April, 
the  Confederate  flags  over  Forts  Jackson  and  St. 
Philip  were  observed  to  disappear ;  the  national 
ensign  floated  in  their  stead ;  and  soon  it  became 
known  that  Duncan  had  surrendered  to  Porter. 

Porter  immediately  took  possession  and  held  it 
until  Phelps  came  up  the  river  to  relieve  him.  Then 
Major  Whittemore,  of  the  3Oth  Massachusetts,  with 
about  two  hundred  men  of  his  regiment,  landed  and 
took  command  at  Fort  St.  Philip,  while  Manning 
occupied  Fort  Jackson.  Almost  simultaneously  the 
frigate  Mississippi  came  down  the  river,  bringing 
Jones  with  the  news  that  his  regiment  was  at  Quar 
antine,  holding  both  banks  of  the  river,  and  thus 
effectually  sealing  the  last  avenue  of  escape ;  for  at 
this  time  the  levee  formed  the  only  pathway.  On 
the  29th  Phelps  put  Deming  in  command  of  Fort 
Jackson,  intending  to  leave  his  regiment,  the  I2th 
Connecticut,  in  garrison  there,  and  to  place  Dudley, 
with  the  30th  Massachusetts,  at  Fort  St.  Philip ; 
but  before  this  arrangement  could  be  carried  out, 
orders  came  from  Butler,  designating  the  26th  Mas 
sachusetts  as  the  garrison  of  the  two  forts,  with  Jones 
in  command.  Phelps,  with  his  force,  was  directed  to 
New  Orleans 

On  the  ist  of  May  Butler  landed  at  New  Or 
leans  and  took  military  possession  of  the  city.  Si 
multaneously,  at  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  the 


1 6  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

3 ist  Massachusetts  with  a  section  of  Everett's  6th 
Massachusetts  battery,  and  six  companies  of  the  4th 
Wisconsin,  under  Paine,  disembarked  and  marched  up 
the  broad  levee  to  the  familiar  airs  that  announced  the 
joint  coming  of  "Yankee  Doodle"  and  of  "  Picayune 
Butler." 

•  The  outlying  defences  on  both  banks  of  the  river 
and  on  the  lakes  were  abandoned  by  the  Confederates 
without  a  struggle.  Forts  Pike  and  Wood,  on  Lake 
Pontchartrain,  were  garrisoned  by  detachments  from 
the  7th  Vermont  and  8th  New  Hampshire  regiments. 
The  2ist  Indiana  landed  at  Algiers,  and  marching  to 
Brashear,  eighty  miles  distant  on  Berwick  Bay,  took 
possession  of  the  New  Orleans  and  Opelousas  railway. 
New  Orleans  itself  was  occupied  by  the  3Oth  and  3ist 
Massachusetts,  the  4th  Wisconsin  and  6th  Michigan, 
9th  and  i2th  Connecticut,  4th  and  6th  Massachusetts 
batteries,  2d  Vermont  battery,  and  Troops  A  and  B 
of  the  Massachusetts  cavalry.  At  Farragut's  approach 
Lovell,  seeing  that  further  resistance  was  useless, 
abandoned  New  Orleans  to  its  fate  and  withdrew  to 
Camp  Moore,  distant  seventy-eight  miles,  on  the  line 
of  the  Jackson  railway. 


MILES 


LOUISIANA 


SHEET  I. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  FIRST  ATTEMPT  ON  VIQKSBURG. 

WITH  the  capture  of  New  Orleans  the  first  and 
vital  object  of  the  expedition  had  been  accomplished. 
The  occupation  of  Baton  Rouge  by  a  combined  land 
and  naval  force  was  the  next  point  indicated  in 
McClellan's  orders  to  Butler.  Then  he  was  to 
endeavor  to  open  communication  with  the  northern 
column  coming  down  the  Mississippi.  McClellan 
was  no  longer  General-in-chief  ;  but  this  part  of  his 
plan  represented  the  settled  views  of  the  government. 

On  the  2d  of  May,  therefore,  Farragut  sent  Craven 
with  the  Brooklyn  and  six  other  vessels  of  the  fleet  up 
the  river.  On  the  8th,  as  early  as  the  river  transports 
could  be  secured,  Butler  sent  Williams  with  the  4th 
Wisconsin  and  the  6th  Michigan  regiments,  and  two 
sections  of  Everett's  6th  Massachusetts  battery,  to 
follow  and  accompany  the  fleet.  The  next  day  Wil 
liams  landed  his  force  at  Bonnet  Carre,  on  the  east 
bank  of  the  river,  about  thirty-five  miles  above  the 
town.  After  wading  about  five  miles  through  a 
swamp,  where  the  water  and  mud  were  about  three 
feet  deep,  the  troops  halted  at  night  at  Frenier,  a 
station  of  the  Jackson  railway,  situated  on  the  shore 
of  Lake  Pontchartrain,  about  ten  miles  above  Kenner. 
A  detachment  of  the  4th  Wisconsin,  under  Major 
Boardman,  was  sent  to  Pass  Manchac.  The  Confed- 

2  I7 


1 8  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

crates  made  a  slight  but  ineffective  resistance  with 
artillery,  resulting  in  trivial  losses  on  either  side. 
The  bridges  at  Pass  Manchac  and  Frenier  being  then 
destroyed,  on  the  following  morning,  the  loth,  the 
troops  marched  back  the  weary  ten  miles  along  the 
uneven  trestle-work  of  the  railway  from  Frenier  to 
Kenner  and  there  took  transport.  After  their  long 
confinement  on  shipboard,  with  scant  rations,  without 
exercise  or  even  freedom  of  movement,  the  excessive 
heat  of  the  day  caused  the  troops  to  suffer  severely. 
The  embarkation  completed,  the  transports,  under 
convoy  of  the  navy,  set  out  for  Baton  Rouge. 
There  on  the  morning  of  the  I2th  of  May  the  troops 
landed,  the  capitol  was  occupied  by  the  4th  Wis 
consin,  and  the  national  colors  were  hoisted  over 
the  building.  The  troops  then  re-embarked  for 
Vicksburg. 

Natchez  surrendered  on  the  i2th  of  May  to  Com 
mander  S.  Phillips  Lee,  of  the  Oneida,  the  advance  of 
Farragut's  fleet.  On  the  i8th  of  May  the  Oneida  and 
her  consorts  arrived  off  Vicksburg,  and  the  same  day 
Williams  and  Lee  summoned  "  the  authorities  "  to 
surrender  the  town  and  "  its  defences  to  the  lawful 
authority  of  the  United  States."  To  this  Brigadier- 
General  Martin  L.  Smith,  commander  of  the  defences, 
promptly  replied  :  "  Having  been  ordered  here  to  hold 
these  defences,  my  intention  is  to  do  so  as  long  as  it 
is  in  my  power." 

On  the  i  Qth  the  transports  stopped  for  wood  at 
Warrenton,  about  ten  miles  below  Vicksburg,  and 
here  a  detachment  of  the  4th  Wisconsin,  sent  to 
guard  the  working  party,  became  involved  in  a  skir 
mish  with  the  Confederates,  in  which  Sergeant-Major 
N.  H.  Chittenden  and  Private  C.  E.  Perry,  of  A 


THE  FIRST  A  TTEMPT  ON  VICKSBURG.        19 

Company,  suffered  the  first  wounds  received  in  battle 
by  the  troops  of  the  United  States  in  the  Department 
of  the  Gulf.  The  Confederates  were  easily  repulsed, 
with  small  loss. 

Almost  at  the  instant  when  Farragut  was  deciding 
to  run  the  gauntlet  of  the  forts,  Beauregard  had  begun 
to  fortify  Vicksburg.  Up  to  this  time  he  had  trusted 
the  defence  of  the  river  above  New  Orleans  to  Fort 
Pillow,  Helena,  and  Memphis. 

When  Smith  took  command  at  Vicksburg  on  the 
1 2th  of  May,  in  accordance  with  the  orders  of  Lovell, 
the  department  commander,  three  of  the  ten  batteries 
laid  out  for  the  defence  of  the  position  had  been 
nearly  completed  and  a  fourth  had  been  begun. 
These  batteries  were  intended  for  forty-eight  guns 
from  field  rifles  to  loinch  columbiads.  The  garrison 
was  to  be  3,000  strong,  but  at  this  time  the  only 
troops  present  were  parts  of  two  Louisiana  regiments. 
When  the  fleet  arrived,  on  the  i8th,  six  of  the  ten 
batteries  had  been  completed,  and  two  days  later 
twenty-three  heavy  guns  were  in  place  and  the 
defenders  numbered  more  than  2,600. 

The  guns  of  the  navy  could  not  be  elevated  suffi 
ciently  for  their  projectiles  to  reach  the  Confederate 
batteries  on  the  bluff,  and  the  entire  land-force,  under 
Williams,  was  less  than  1,100  effective.  Even  had  it 
been  possible  by  a  sudden  attack  to  surprise  and 
overcome  the  garrison  and  seize  the  bluffs,  the  whole 
available  force  of  the  Department  of  the  Gulf  would 
have  been  insufficient  to  hold  the  position  for  a  week, 
as  things  then  stood. 

The  truth  is  that  the  northern  column  with  which, 
following  their  orders,  Butler  and  Farragut  were  now 
trying  to  co-operate  had  ceased  to  exist ;  Jackson 


20  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

meant  Beauregard's  rear  ;  and,  as  for  any  co-opera 
tion  between  Halleck  and  Williams,  Beauregard  stood 
solidly  between  them.  On  the  I7th  of  April,  the 
day  before  Porter's  mortars  first  opened  upon  Forts 
Jackson  and  St.  Philip,  the  whole  land  force  of 
this  northern  column,  under  Pope,  at  that  moment 
preparing  for  the  attack  on  Fort  Pillow,  had  been 
withdrawn  by  imperative  orders  from  Halleck,  and, 
on  the  very  evening  before  the  attack  on  Fort 
Pillow  was  to  have  been  made,  had  gone  to  swell 
the  great  army  assembled  under  Halleck  at  Corinth  ; 
but  as  yet  neither  Butler  nor  Farragut  knew  any 
thing  of  all  this.  Save  by  the  tedious  roundabout 
of  Washington,  New  York,  the  Atlantic,  and  the 
Gulf,  there  was  at  this  time  no  regular  or  trustworthy 
means  of  communication  between  the  forces  descend 
ing  the  Mississippi  and  those  that  had  just  achieved 
the  conquest  of  New  Orleans  and  were  now  ascend 
ing  the  river  to  co-operate  with  the  northern  column. 
Thus  it  was  that  a  single  word,  daubed  in  a  rude 
scrawl  upon  the  walls  of  the  custom-house,  meet 
ing  the  eyes  of  Paine's  men  after  they  had  made 
a  way  into  the  building  with  their  axes,  gave  to 
Butler  the  first  intelligence  of  the  desperate  battle  of 
the  6th  and  7th  of  April,  on  which  the  fate  of  the 
whole  Union  campaign  in  the  West  had  been  staked, 
if  not  imperilled,  and  which  in  its  result  was  destined 
to  change  materially  the  whole  course  of  operations 
in  the  Gulf  Department.  That  word  was  Shiloh. 

By  the  26th  of  May  the  Oneida  had  been  joined  by 
the  rest  of  the  fleet,  under  the  personal  command  of 
the  restless  and  energetic  flag-officer.  On  the  after 
noon  of  this  day  the  fleet  opened  fire.  The  Confed 
erates  replied  sparingly,  as  much  to  economize  their 


THE  FIRST  ATTEMPT  ON  VICKSBURG.       21 

ammunition  and  to  keep  the  men  fresh,  as  to  avoid 
giving  the  Union  commanders  information  regarding 
the  range  and  effect  of  their  fire. 

The  river  was  now  falling.  The  Hartford  in  com 
ing  up  had  already  grounded  hard,  and  so  remained 
helpless  for  fifty  hours,  and  had  only  been  got 
off  by  incredible  exertions.  Provisions  of  all  kinds 
were  running  very  low.  On  the  25th  of  May,  after 
a  thorough  reconnoissance,  Farragut  and  Williams 
decided  to  give  up  the  attempt  on  Vicksburg  as 
evidently  impracticable.  Farragut  left  Palmer  with 
the  Iroquois  and  six  gunboats  to  blockade  the 
river  and  to  amuse  the  garrison  at  Vicksburg  by  an 
occasional  bombardment  in  order  to  prevent  Smith 
from  sending  reinforcements  to  Corinth. 

While  Williams  was  descending  the  river  on  the 
26th,  the  transports  were  fired  into  by  the  Confed 
erate  battery  on  the  bluff  at  Grand  Gulf,  sixty  miles 
below  Vicksburg.  About  sixty  rounds  were  fired  in 
all,  many  of  which  passed  completely  through  the 
transport  La^^,rel  Hill,  bearing  the  4th  Wisconsin, 
part  of  the  6th  Michigan,  and  the  6th  Massachu 
setts  battery.  One  private  of  the  6th  Michigan 
was  killed  and  Captain  Chauncey  J.  Bassett,  of  the 
same  regiment,  wounded.  The  Ceres,  bearing  the 
remainder  of  the  6th  Michigan  and  the  6th  Massa 
chusetts  battery,  was  following  the  Laurel  Hill 
and  was  similarly  treated.  After  a  stern  chase  of 
about  twenty  miles,  the  convoy  was  overhauled,  and 
the  gunboat  Kineo,  returning,  shelled  the  town  and 
caused  the  withdrawal  of  the  battery.  During  the 
evening  Williams  sent  four  companies  of  the  4th 
Wisconsin,  under  Major  Boardman,  to  overtake  the 
enemy's  battery  and  break  up  the  camp,  about  one 


22  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

mile  and  a  half  in  the  rear  of  the  town.  Boardman 
came  upon  the  Confederates  as  they  were  retiring, 
and  shots  were  exchanged.  The  casualties  were 
few,  but  Lieutenant  George  DeKay,  a  gallant  and 
attractive  young  officer,  serving  as  aide-de-camp  to 
General  Williams,  received  a  mortal  wound. 

On  the  2Qth  the  troops  under  Williams  once  more 
landed  and  took  post  at  Baton  Rouge.  During  their 
absence  of  seventeen  days,  the  Confederates  had  im 
proved  the  opportunity  to  remove  much  valuable 
property  that  had  been  found  stored  in  the  arsenal  on 
the  occasion  of  the  first  landing  of  the  Union  forces. 

On  his  return  to  New  Orleans  Farragut  received 
pressing  orders  from  the  Navy  Department  to  take 
Vicksburg.  He  therefore  returned  with  his  fleet,  re 
inforced  by  a  detachment  of  the  mortar  flotilla,  and 
Butler  once  more  despatched  Williams,  this  time  with 
an  increased  force,  to  co-operate.  Williams  left  Baton 
Rouge  on  the  morning  of  the  2Oth  of  June  with  a 
force  composed  of  the  3<Dth  Massachusetts,  Qth  Con 
necticut,  7th  Vermont,  and  4th  Wisconsin  regiments, 
Nims's  2d  Massachusetts  battery  and  two  sections  of 
Everett's  6th  Massachusetts  battery.  This  time  a  gar 
rison  was  left  to  hold  Baton  Rouge,  consisting  of  the 
2 ist  Indiana  and  6th  Michigan  regiments,  the  remain 
ing  section  of  Everett's  battery  and  Magee's  Troop  C 
of  the  Massachusetts  cavalry  battalion.  On  the  22d 
of  June  the  transports  arrived  off  Ellis's  Cliffs,  twelve 
miles  below  Natchez,  where  Williams  found  three  gun 
boats  waiting  to  convoy  him  past  the  high  ground. 
Here  he  landed  a  detachment  consisting  of  the  3Oth 
Massachusetts  regiment  and  two  guns  of  Nims's  bat 
tery  to  turn  the  supposed  position  of  two  field-pieces 
said  to  have  been  planted  by  the  Confederates  on  the 


THE  FIRST  ATTEMPT  ON  VICKSBURG.       23 

bluffs,  while  a  second  force,  composed  of  the  4th 
Wisconsin,  gih  Connecticut,  the  other  two  sections 
of  Nims's  battery,  and  the  four  guns  of  Everett's, 
marched  directly  forward  up  the  cliff  road.  An  aban 
doned  caisson  or  limber  was  all  that  the  troops  found. 

On  the  24th,  anticipating  more  serious  resistance 
from  the  guns  said  to  be  in  position  on  the  bluffs  at 
Grand  Gulf,  Williams  entered  Bayou  Pierre  with  his 
whole  force  in  the  early  morning,  intending  to  strike 
the  crossing,  about  seventeen  miles  up  the  stream,  of 
the  railway  from  Port  Gibson  to  Grand  Gulf,  and 
thence  to  move  directly  on  the  rear  of  the  town. 
Half-way  up  the  bayou  the  boats  were  stopped  by 
obstructions  and  had  to  back  down  again.  Toward 
noon  the  troops  landed  and  marched  on  Grand 
Gulf  in  two  detachments,  one  under  Paine,  consist 
ing  of  the  4th  Wisconsin  and  Qth  Connecticut 
regiments  and  a  section  of  Nims's  battery ;  the  other, 
under  Dudley,  embracing  the  remainder  of  the  force. 
Paine  had  a  short  skirmish  with  the  enemy  near 
Grand  Gulf,  and  captured  eight  prisoners,  but  their 
camp,  a  small  one,  was  found  abandoned.  The  same 
evening  the  troops  re-embarked,  and  on  the  25th 
arrived  before  Vicksburg. 

The  orders  from  Butler,  under  which  Williams 
was  now  acting,  required  him  to  take  or  burn  Vicks 
burg  at  all  hazards.  Here,  too,  we  catch  the  first 
glimpse  of  the  famous  canal  upon  which  so  much 
labor  was  to  be  expended  during  the  next  year  with 
so  little  result.  "You  will  send  up  a  regiment  or 
two  at  once,"  Butler  said,  "  and  cut  off  the  neck  of 
land  beyond  Vicksburg  by  means  of  a  trench,  making 
a  gap  about  four  feet  deep  and  five  feet  wide." 

To  accomplish  this  purpose  Williams  had  with  him 


24  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

four  regiments  and  ten  guns,  making  an  effective 
force,  in  all  less  than  three  thousand,  rapidly  dimin 
ished  by  hard  work,  close  quarters,  meagre  rations, 
and  a  bad  climate  nearly  at  its  worst. 

On  the  24th  of  June  the  Monarch,  commanded 
by  Lieutenant-Colonel  Alfred  W.  Ellet,  arrived 
in  the  reach  above  Vicksburg.  This  was  one  of 
the  nondescript  fleet  of  rams,  planned,  built,  equip 
ped,  and  manned,  under  the  orders  of  the  War  De 
partment,  by  Ellet's  elder  brother,  Colonel  Charles 
Ellet,  Jr.,  but  now  acting  under  the  orders  of  the 
Commander  of  the  Mississippi  fleet.  Ellet  promptly 
sent  a  party  of  four  volunteers,  led  by  his  young 
nephew,  Medical  Cadet  Charles  R.  Ellet,  to  com 
municate  with  Farragut  across  the  narrow  neck 
of  land  opposite  Vicksburg.  This  was  the  first 
direct  communication  between  the  northern  and 
southern  columns.  By  it  Farragut  learned  of  the 
abandonment  of  Fort  Pillow  by  the  Confederates 
on  the  4th  of  June,  and  the  capture  of  Memphis  on 
the  6th,  after  a  hard  naval  fight,  in  which  nearly  the 
whole  Confederate  fleet  was  taken  or  destroyed. 
There  Charles  Ellet  was  mortally  wounded.  When 
the  Monarch  party  went  back  to  their  vessel,  they 
bore  with  them  a  letter  from  Farragut,  the  contents 
of  which  being  promptly  made  known  by  Ellet  to 
Davis,  brought  that  officer,  with  his  fleet,  at  once  to 
Vicksburg.  On  the  following  day,  June  25th,  a  de 
tachment  of  the  4th  Wisconsin,  sent  up  the  river 
overland  by  Colonel  Paine,  succeeded  in  establishing 
a  second  communication  with  the  Monarch,  believing 
it  to  be  the  first. 

Farragut's  fleet,  now  anchored  below  Vicksburg, 
comprised  the  flagship  Hartford,  the  sloops-of-war 


THE  FIRST  ATTEMPT  ON  VICKSBURG.       25 

Brooklyn  and  Richmond,  the  corvettes  Iroquois  and 
Oneida,  and  six  gunboats.  Porter  had  joined  with 
the  Octorara,  Miami,  six  other  steamers,  and  seven 
teen  of  the  mortar  schooners.  The  orders  of  the 
government  were  peremptory  that  the  Mississippi 
should  be  cleared.  The  Confederates  held  the  river 
by  a  single  thread.  The  fall  of  Memphis  and  the 
ruin  of  the  famous  river-defence  fleet  left  between  St. 
Louis  and  the  Gulf  but  a  solitary  obstruction.  This 
was  Vicksburg. 

Vicksburg  stands  at  an  abrupt  turn,  where  within 
ten  miles  the  winding  river  doubles  upon  itself,  form 
ing  on  the  low  ground  opposite  a  long  ringer  of  land, 
barely  three  quarters  of  a  mile  wide.  Opposite  the 
extreme  end  of  this  peninsula,  known  as  De  Soto, 
the  bluff  reaches  the  highest  point  attained  along 
the  whole  course  of  the  river,  the  crest  standing 
about  250  feet  above  the  mean  stage  of  water.  Slop 
ing  slowly  toward  the  river,  the  bluff  follows  it 
with  a  diminished  altitude  for  two  miles.  Here  stands 
the  town  of  Vicksburg,  then  a  place  of  about  ten  thou 
sand  inhabitants.  Below  the  town  the  bluffs  draw 
away  from  the  river  until,  about  four  miles  be 
yond  the  bend,  their  height  diminishes  to  about  150 
feet.  For  the  defence  of  this  line,  as  has  been 
already  seen,  a  formidable  series  of  batteries  had 
been  constructed,  extending  from  the  bluff  at  the 
mouth  of  Chickasaw  Bayou  on  the  north  to  Warren- 
ton  on  the  south.  These  batteries  now  mounted 
twenty-six  heavy  guns,  served  by  gunners  com 
paratively  well  trained  and  instructed,  and  sup 
ported  against  an  attack  by  land  by  about  6,000  in 
fantry  under  Lovell.  Almost  simultaneously  with 
the  arrival  of  Farragut  and  Williams,  came  Breckin- 


26  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

ridge  with  his  division,  augmenting  the  effective 
force  of  the  defenders  to  not  less  than  10,000.  On 
the  3Oth  of  May  Beauregard  evacuated  Corinth  and 
drew  back  to  Tupelo  ;  Halleck  did  not  follow  ;  and  so 
35,000  Confederates  were  now  set  free  to  strengthen 
Vicksburg.  Thus  defended  and  supported  Vicksburg 
was  obviously  impregnable  to  any  attack  by  the  com 
bined  forces  of  Farragut  and  Williams.  On  the  28th 
of  June,  Van  Dorn  arrived  and  took  command  of  the 
Confederate  forces. 

After  some  preliminary  bombarding  and  recon 
noitring  Farragut,  who  was  well  informed  as  to  the 
condition  of  the  defences,  determined  upon  repeating 
before  Vicksburg  his  exploit  below  New  Orleans. 
Accordingly,  on  the  28th  of  July,  in  the  darkness  of 
the  early  morning,  under  cover  of  the  fire  of  Porter's 
mortar  flotilla,  Farragut  got  under  way  with  his  fleet 
to  pass  the  batteries  of  Vicksburg.  The  fleet  was 
formed  in  two  columns,  with  wide  intervals,  the  star 
board  column  led  by  the  Hartford,  the  port  column 
by  the  Iroquois.  The  battle  was  opened  by  the 
mortars  at  four  o'clock,  the  enemy  replying  instantly. 
By  six  o'clock  the  Hartford  and  six  of  her  consorts 
had  successfully  run  the  gauntlet,  and  lay  safely 
anchored  above  the  bend,  while  the  rest  of  the  fleet, 
through  some  confusion  of  events  or  misapprehension 
of  orders,  had  resumed  its  former  position  below  the 
bend.  The  losses  of  the  navy  in  this  engagement 
were  fifteen  killed  and  thirty  wounded,  including  many 
scalded  by  the  effect  of  a  single  shot  that  pierced  the 
boiler  of  the  Clifton.  The  eight  rifled  guns  of  Nims's 
and  Everett's  batteries  having  been  landed,  were 
placed  in  position  behind  the  levee  at  Barney's  Point, 
and  replied  effectively  to  the  fire  of  the  heavy  guns 


THE  FIRST  ATTEMPT  ON  VICKSBURG.       27 

on  the  high  bluff,  at  a  range  of  about  fourteen  hun 
dred  yards.  This  slight  service  was  the  only  form 
of  active  co-operation  by  the  army  that  the  circum 
stances  admitted  ;  yet  all  the  troops  stood  to  arms, 
ready  to  do  any  thing  that  might  be  required. 

On  the  ist  of  July  Davis  joined  Farragut  with 
four  gunboats  and  six  mortar-boats  of  the  Mississippi 
fleet.  On  the  Qth  Farragut  received  orders  from  the 
Navy  Department,  dated  on  the  5th,  and  forwarded 
by  way  of  Cairo,  to  send  Porter  with  the  Octorara, 
and  twelve  mortar-boats  at  once  to  Hampton  Roads. 
Porter  steamed  down  the  river  on  the  loth.  This  was 
obviously  one  of  the  first-fruits  of  the  campaign  of 
the  Peninsula  just  ended  by  the  withdrawal  of  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac  to  the  James.  Indeed,  at  this 
crisis,  all  occasions  seemed  to  be  informing  against 
the  Union  plan  of  campaign,  and  the  same  events 
that  drew  the  Confederate  armies  together  served 
to  draw  the  Union  armies  apart.  Just  as  we  have 
seen  Pope  called  away  from  Fort  Pillow  on  the  eve  of 
an  attack  that  must  have  resulted  in  its  capture,  and 
taken  in  haste  to  swell  the  slow  march  of  Halleck's 
army  before  Corinth,  so  now,  when  for  a  full  month 
Corinth  had  been  abandoned  by  the  Confederates, 
Halleck's  forces  were  being  broken  up  and  dispersed 
to  all  four  of  the  winds,  save  that  which  might  have 
blown  them  to  the  south.  Halleck  declared  himself 
unable  to  respond  to  Farragut's  urgent  appeal  for 
help.  "  I  cannot,"  he  said,  when  urged  by  Stanton ; 
"  I  am  sending  reinforcements  to  General  Curtis,  in 
Arkansas,  and  to  General  Buell,  in  Tennessee  and 
Kentucky."  Not  only  this,  but  he  was  being  called 
upon  by  Lincoln  himself  for  25,000  troops  to  rein 
force  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  before  Richmond. 


28  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

"  Probably  I  shall  be  able  to  do  so,"  Halleck  told  Far- 
ragut,  "as  soon  as  I  can  get  my  troops  more  concen 
trated.  This  may  delay  the  clearing  of  the  river,  but 
its  accomplishment  will  be  certain  in  a  few  weeks." 

Meanwhile  Williams  was  hard  at  work  on  the  canal. 
In  addition  to  such  details  as  could  be  furnished  by 
the  troops  without  wholly  neglecting  the  absolutely 
necessary  portions  of  their  military  duties,  Williams 
had  employed  a  force  of  about  1,200  negroes,  rather 
poorly  provided  with  tools.  The  work  was  not  confined 
to  excavation,  but  involved  the  cutting  down  of  the 
large  cottonwoods  and  the  clearing  away  of  the  dense 
masses  of  willows  that  covered  the  low  ground  and 
matted  the  heavy  soil  with  their  tangled  roots.  By  the 
4th  of  July  the  excavation  had  reached  a  depth  in  the 
hard  clay  of  nearly  seven  feet.  The  length  of  the 
canal  was  about  one  and  a  half  miles.  By  the  nth 
of  July  the  cut,  originally  intended  to  be  four  feet 
deep  and  five  feet  wide,  with  a  profile  of  twenty 
square  feet,  had  been  excavated  through  this  stiff 
clay  to  a  depth  of  thirteen  feet  and  a  width  of  eighteen 
feet,  presenting  a  profile  of  234  feet.  The  river, 
which,  up  to  this  time,  had  been  falling  more  rapidly 
than  the  utmost  exertions  had  been  able  to  sink 
the  bottom  of  the  canal,  had  now  begun  to  fall 
more  slowly,  so  that  at  last  the  grade  was 
about  eighteen  inches  below  the  river  level.  In  a 
few  hours  the  water  was  to  have  been  let  in. 
Suddenly  the  banks  began  to  cave,  and  before  any 
thing  could  be  done  to  remedy  this,  the  river,  still 
falling,  was  once  more  below  the  bottom  of  the  cut. 
Although  with  this  scanty  and  overworked  force  he 
had  already  performed  nearly  twelve  times  the  amount 
of  labor  originally  contemplated,  Williams  does  not 


THE  FIRST  ATTEMPT  ON  VICKSBURG.       29 

seem  to  have  been  discouraged  at  this ;  his  orders 
were  to  make  the  cut,  and  his  purpose  clearly  was  to 
make  it,  even  if  it  should  take,  as  he  thought  it  would, 
the  whole  of  the  next  three  months.  He  set  to  work 
with  vigor  to  collect  laborers,  wheelbarrows,  shovels, 
axes,  carts,  and  scrapers,  and  "  to  make  a  real  canal," 
to  use  his  own  words,  "  to  the  depth  of  the  greatest 
fall  of  the  river  at  this  point,  say  some  thirty-five  to 
forty  feet."  But  this  was  not  to  be. 

Until  toward  the  end  of  June,  the  Polk  and  Living 
ston,  the  last  vestiges  of  the  Confederate  navy  on  the 
Mississippi  spared  from  the  general  wreck  at  Memphis, 
lay  far  up  the  Yazoo  River,  with  a  barrier  above 
them,  designed  to  cover  the  building  of  the  ram  Arkan 
sas.  This  formidable  craft  was  approaching  completion 
at  Yazoo  City.  The  Ellets,  uncle  and  nephew,  with 
the  Monarch  and  Lancaster,  steamed  up  the  Yazoo 
River  to  reconnoitre.  The  rams  carried  no  armament 
whatever,  but  this  the  Confederate  naval  commander 
in  the  Yazoo  did  not  know  ;  so,  unable  to  pass  the 
barrier,  he  set  fire  to  his  three  gunboats  immediately 
on  perceiving  Ellet's  approach.  On  the  i4th  of  July, 
Flag-Officers  Farragut  and  Davis  sent  the  gunboats 
Carondelet  and  Tyler,  and  the  ram  Queen  of  the  West, 
on  a  second  expedition  up  the  Yazoo  to  gain  infor 
mation  of  the  Arkansas.  This  object  was  greatly 
facilitated  by  the  fact  that  the  Arkansas  had  at  this 
very  moment  just  got  under  way  for  the  first  time, 
and  was  coming  down  the  Yazoo  to  gather  informa 
tion  of  the  Federal  fleet.  The  Arkansas,  which  had 
been  constructed  and  was  now  commanded  by  Captain 
Isaac  N.  Brown,  formerly  of  the  United  States  Navy, 
was,  for  defensive  purposes,  probably  the  most  effective 
of  all  the  gunboats  ever  set  afloat  by  the  Confederacy 


30  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

upon  the  western  waters.  Her  deck  was  covered 
by  a  single  casemate  protected  by  three  inches  of 
railroad  iron,  set  aslant  like  a  gable  roof,  and  heavily 
backed  up  with  timber  and  cotton  bales.  Her  whole 
bow  formed  a  powerful  ram ;  the  shield,  flat  on  the 
top,  was  pierced  for  ten  guns  of  heavy  calibre,  three 
in  each  broadside,  two  forward,  and  two  aft.  Had 
her  means  of  propulsion  proved  equal  to  her  power 
of  attack  and  defence,  it  is  doubtful  if  the  whole 
Union  navy  on  the  Mississippi  could  have  stood 
against  her  single-handed.  The  situation  thus 
strangely  recalls  that  presented  by  the  Merrimac,  or 
Virginia,  in  Hampton  Roads  before  the  opportune 
arrival  of  the  Monitor.  On  board  the  Tyler  was  a 
detachment  of  twenty  sharpshooters  of  the  4th 
Wisconsin  regiment,  under  Captain  J.  W.  Lynn,  and 
on  the  Carondelet  were  twenty  men  of  the  3Oth 
Massachusetts  regiment,  under  Lieutenant  E.  A. 
Fiske.  About  six  miles  above  the  Yazoo  the  Union 
gunboats  encountered  the  Arkansas.  The  unarmed 
ram  Queen  of  the  West  promptly  fled.  After  a  hard 
fight  the  Carondelet  was  disabled  and  run  ashore,  and 
the  Tyler  was  forced  to  retire,  with  the  Arkansas  in 
pursuit.  The  sharpshooters  of  the  4th  Wisconsin 
suffered  more  severely  than  if  they  had  been  en 
gaged  in  an  ordinary  pitched  battle,  Captain  Lynn 
and  six  of  his  men  being  killed  and  six  others  wounded. 
The  Queen  of  the  West,  flying  out  of  the  mouth  of 
the  Yazoo  under  a  full  head  of  steam,  gave  to  the 
fleet  at  anchor  the  first  intimation,  though  perhaps  a 
feeble  one,  of  what  was  to  follow.  Not  one  vessel 
of  either  squadron  had  steam.  The  ram  Bragg, 
which  might  have  been  expected  to  do  something,  did 
nothing.  The  Arkansas,  so  seriously  injured  by  the 


THE  FIRST  ATTEMPT  ON  VICKSBURG.       31 

guns  of  the  Carondclet  and  Tyler  that  the  steam 
pressure  had  gone  from  1 20  pounds  to  the  square  inch 
down  to  20  pounds,  kept  on  her  course,  and  proceeded 
to  run  the  gauntlet  of  the  Union  fleet,  giving  and 
taking  blows  as  she  went.  Battered,  but  safe,  she 
soon  lay  under  the  guns  of  Vicksburg. 

This  decided  the  fate  of  the  campaign,  and  extin 
guished  in  the  breast  of  Farragut  the  last  vestige  of 
the  ardent  hope  he  had  expressed  to  the  government 
a  few  days  earlier  that  he  might  soon  have  the  pleas 
ure  of  recording  the  combined  attack  of  the  army  and 
navy,  for  which  all  so  ardently  longed.  The  river 
was  falling ;  the  canal  was  a  failure.  Of  the  officers 
and  men  of  the  navy,  two  fifths,  and  of  the  effective 
force  of  the  army  nearly  three  fourths,  were  on  the 
sick-list.  There  was  no  longer  any  thing  to  hope  for 
or  to  wait  for.  The  night  that  followed  the  exploit 
of  the  Arkansas  saw  Farragut's  fleet  descending  the 
river  and  once  more  running  the  gauntlet  of  the 
batteries  of  Vicksburg.  A  flying  attempt  was  made 
by  each  vessel  in  succession,  but  by  all  unsuccessfully, 
to  destroy  the  offending  Arkansas. 

On  the  24th  of  July,  Williams,  with  his  small  force, 
under  convoy  of  Farragut's  fleet,  sailed  down  the 
river.  So  ended  the  second  attempt  on  Vicksburg, 
usually  called  the  first,  when  remembered.  Its  sud 
den  collapse  gave  the  Confederates  the  river  for 
another  year. 


CHAPTER  III. 

BATON  ROUGE. 

ON  the  26th  of  July,  the  troops  landed  at  Baton 
Rouge.  In  the  five  weeks  that  had  elapsed  since  their 
departure  their  effective  strength  had  been  diminished, 
by  privations,  by  severe  labor,  and  by  the  effects  of  a 
deadly  climate,  from  3,200  to  about  800.  For  more 
than  three  months,  ever  since  their  re-embarkation 
at  Ship  Island  on  the  roth  of  April,  they  had  under 
gone  hardships  such  as  have  seldom  fallen  to  the  lot 
of  soldiers,  in  a  campaign  whose  existence  is  scarcely 
known  and  whose  name  has  been  wellnigh  forgotten  ; 
but  their  time  for  rest  and  recreation  had  not  yet  come. 

No  sooner  did  Van  Dorn  see  the  allied  fleets  of 
Davis  and  Farragut  turning  their  backs  on  one 
another  and  steaming  one  to  the  north  and  the  other 
to  the  south,  than  he  determined  to  take  the  initia 
tive.  His  preparations  had  been  already  made  in 
anticipation  of  this  event.  He  now  ordered  Breckin- 
ridge  to'  hasten  with  his  division  to  the  attack  of 
Baton  Rouge,  and  even  as  the  fleet  got  under  way, 
the  train  bearing  Breckinridge's  troops  was  also  in 
motion. 

Breckinridge  received  his  orders  on  the  26th,  and 
arrived  at  Camp  Moore  by  the  railway  on  the  28th. 
At  Jackson  he  had  been  told  that  he  would  receive 
rations  sufficient  for  ten  days,  but  he  could  get  no 

32 


LOUISIANA 


SHEET    II. 


BATON  ROUGE.  33 

more  than  half  the  quantity.  Van  Dorn  had  esti 
mated  the  Union  force  to  be  met  at  Baton  Rouge  at 
about  5,000,  and  had  calculated  that  Breckinridge 
would  find  himself  strong  enough  to  dislodge  the 
Union  army  and  drive  it  away.  In  fact,  Van  Dorn 
estimated  Breckinridge's  division,  including  i,ooomen 
under  Brigadier-General  Ruggles,  that  were  to  meet 
him  at  Camp  Moore,  at  6,000  men.  The  Arkansas 
was  to  join  in  the  attack,  and  she  was  justly  consid 
ered  a  full  offset  to  any  naval  force  the  Union  com 
mander  would  be  likely  to  have  stationed  at  Baton 
Rouge.  Breckinridge  left  Vicksburg  with  less  than 
4,000.  On  the  3Oth  of  July  he  reports  his  total 
effective  force,  including  Ruggles,  at  3,600.  The 
same  day  he  marched  on  Baton  Rouge,  and  on 
the  4th  of  August  encamped  at  the  crossing  of  the 
Comite,  distant  about  ten  miles  from  his  objective. 
His  morning  report  of  that  day  shows  but  3,000 
effectives,  according  to  the  method  by  which  effective 
strength  was  commonly  counted  by  the  Confederates. 

The  distance  from  Camp  Moore  to  Baton  Rouge 
is  about  sixty  miles,  and  the  march  had  been  thus 
retarded  to  await  the  co-operation  of  the  Arkansas. 
This  Breckinridge  was  finally  assured  he  might  ex 
pect  at  daylight  on  the  morning  of  the  5th  of  August. 
The  Arkansas  had  in  fact  left  Vicksburg  on  the  3d. 

Van  Dorn's  object  obviously  was  by  crushing  Wil 
liams  to  regain  control  of  the  Mississippi  from  Vicks 
burg  to  Baton  Rouge,  to  break  the  blockade  of  Red 
River  and  to  open  the  way  for  the  recapture  of  New 
Orleans.  Williams  was  expecting  the  attack  and 
awaited  the  result  with  calmness. 

At  Baton  Rouge  the  Mississippi  washes  for  the 
last  time  the  base  of  the  high  and  steep  bluffs  that 

3 


34  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

for  so  many  hundreds  of  miles  have  followed  the 
coasts  of  the  great  river  and  formed  the  contour  of 
its  left  bank,  overlooking  its  swift  yellow  waters  and 
the  vast  lowlands  of  the  western  shore.  The  bluff 
is  lower  at  Baton  Rouge  than  it  is  above  and  slopes 
more  gently  to  the  water's  edge  ;  and  here  the  high 
land  draws  back  from  the  river  and  gradually  fades 
away  in  a  southeasterly  direction  toward  the  Gulf, 
while  the  surface  of  the  country  becomes  more 
open  and  less  broken.  The  stiff  post-tertiary  clays 
that  compose  the  soil  of  these  bluffs  were  in  many 
places  covered  with  a  rich  growth  of  timber,  great 
magnolias  and  beautiful  live  oaks  replacing  the  rank 
cottonwood  and  tangled  willows  of  the  lowlands,  as 
well  as  the  giant  cypresses  of  the  impenetrable 
swamps,  with  their  mournful  hangings  of  Spanish 
moss,  and  the  wild  grape  binding  them  fast  in  a 
deadly  embrace. 

Six  roads  led  out  of  the  town  in  various  directions. 
Of  these  the  most  northerly  was  the  road  from  Bayou 
Sara.  Passing  behind  the  town  its  course  continued 
toward  the  south  along  the  river.  Between  these 
outstretched  arms  ran  the  road  to  Clinton,  the  Green- 
well  Springs  road,  by  which  the  Confederates  had 
come,  the  Perkins  road,  and  the  Clay  Cut  road. 

In  numbers  the  opposing  forces  were  nearly  equal. 
The  Confederates  went  into  action  with  about  2,600, 
without  counting  the  partisan  rangers  and  militia, 
numbering  400  or  500  more.  Williams  had  about 
2,500  fighting  men.  He  had  eighteen  guns,  the 
Confederates  eleven.  On  both  sides  the  men  were 
enfeebled  by  malaria  and  exposure  ;  yet  the  Con 
federates  had  left  their  sick  behind,  while  the  Union 
force  included  convalescents  that  came  out  of  the 


BATON  ROUGE.  35 

hospital  to  take  part  in  the  battle.  "  There  were  not 
1,200,"  said  Weitzel  after  the  battle,  "who  could  have 
marched  five  miles.  None  of  our  men  had  been  in 
battle;  very  few  had  been  under  fire."  Among  the 
Confederates  were  many  of  the  veterans  of  Shiloh 
and  more  of  the  triumphant  defenders  of  Vicksburg. 
The  advantage  of  position  was  slight  on  either  side. 
On  the  one  hand  Williams  was  forced  to  post  his  left 
with  regard  to  the  expected  attack  of  the  Arkansas, 
so  that  in  the  centre  his  line  fell  behind  the  camps. 
To  offset  this  his  right  rested  securely  on  the  gun 
boats.  As  it  turned  out  the  Arkansas  was  not 
encountered,  and  the  gunboats  told  off  to  meet  her 
were  therefore  able  to  render  material  assistance  on 
the  left  by  their  oblique  fire  across  Williams's  front. 

Breckinridge  commanded  four  picked  brigades, 
three  selected  from  his  own  division  and  one  of  Mar 
tin  L.  Smith's  Vicksburg  brigades,  the  whole  organ 
ized  in  two  divisions,  under  Brigadier-Generals  Charles 
Clark  and  Daniel  Ruggles.  Clark  had  the  brigades 
of  Brigadier-General  Bernard  H.  Helm  and  Colonel 
Thomas  B.  Smith,  of  the  2Oth  Tennessee,  with  the 
Hudson  battery  and  Cobb's  battery.  Ruggles  had 
the  brigades  of  Colonel  A.  P.  Thompson,  of  the  3d 
Kentucky,  and  Colonel  Henry  W.  Allen,  of  the  4th 
Louisiana,  with  Semmes's  battery.  From  right  to 
left  the  order  of  attack  ran,  Helm,  Smith,  Thomp 
son,  Allen.  Clark  moved  on  the  right  of  the 
Greenwell  Springs  road,  and  Ruggles  on  the  left. 
Scott's  cavalry  was  posted  on  the  extreme  left,  four 
guns  of  Semmes's  battery  occupied  the  centre  of  Rug- 
gles's  division,  while  in  Clark's  centre  were  the  four 
guns  of  the  Hudson  battery  and  one  of  Cobb's  ;  the 
other  two  having  been  disabled  in  a  panic  during  the 


36  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

night  march  before  the  battle.  On  the  extreme  right 
the  Clinton  road  was  picketed  and  held  by  a  detach 
ment  of  infantry  and  rangers  and  the  remaining  sec 
tion  of  Semmes's  battery. 

To  meet  the  expected  attack,  Williams  had  posted 
his  troops  in  rear  of  the  arsenal  and  of  the  town,  occu 
pying  an  irregular  line,  generally  parallel  to  the 
Bayou  Sara  road,  and  extending  from  the  Bayou 
Grosse,  on  the  left,  to  and  beyond  the  intersection  of 
the  Perkins  and  Clay  Cut  roads,  on  the  right.  On 
the  extreme  left,  behind  the  Bayou  Grosse,  was  the 
4th  Wisconsin,  commanded  by  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Bean.  Next,  but  on  the  left  bank  of  the  bayou, 
stood  the  9th  Connecticut.  Next,  and  on  the  left 
of  the  Greenwell  Springs  road,  the  i4th  Maine. 
On  the  right  of  that  road  was  posted  the  2ist 
Indiana,  under  Lieutenant-Colonel  Keith,  with  three 
guns  attached  to  the  regiment,  under  Lieutenant 
J.  H.  Brown.  Across  the  Perkins  and  Clay  Cut  roads 
the  6th  Michigan  was  formed,  under  command  of 
Captain  Charles  E.  Clarke,  while  in  the  rear  of 
the  interval  between  the  6th  Michigan  and  the 
2ist  Indiana  stood  the  7th  Vermont.  The  ex 
treme  right  and  rear  were  covered  by  the  3Oth 
Massachusetts,  in  column,  supporting  Nims's  battery, 
under  Lieutenant  Trull.  On  the  centre  and  left  were 
planted  the  guns  of  Everett's  battery,  under  Carruth, 
and  of  Manning's  4th  Massachusetts  battery. 

The  left  flank  was  supported  by  the  Essex,  Com 
mander  William  D.  Porter ;  the  Cayuga,  Lieutenant 
Harrison  ;  and  the  Sumtert  Lieutenant  Erben  ;  the 
right  flank  by  the  Kineo,  Lieutenant-Commander 
Ransom,  and  Katahdin,  Lieutenant  Roe. 

These  dispositions  were  planned  expressly  to  meet 


BATON  ROUGE.  37 

the  expected  attack  by  the  ram  Arkansas,  and  in  that 
view  the  arrangement  was  probably  the  best  that  the 
formation  of  the  ground  permitted.  But  the  fighting 
line  was  very  far  advanced  ;  the  camps  still  farther  ; 
the  reserve  on  the  right  was  posted  quite  a  mile  and 
a  half  behind  the  capitol,  and,  as  at  Shiloh,  no  portion 
of  the  line  was  fortified  or  protected  in  any  way,  though 
the  field  was  an  open  plain  and  the  converging  roads 
gave  to  the  attacking  party  a  wide  choice  of  position. 

About  daylight  Breckinridge  moved  to  the  attack 
in  a  summer  fog  so  dense  that  those  engaged  could 
at  first  distinguish  neither  friend  nor  enemy.  The 
blow  fell  first,  and  heavily,  upon  the  centre  and 
right,  held  by  the  i4th  Maine,  2ist  Indiana,  and 
6th  Michigan.  As  our  troops  were  pressed  back 
by  the  vigor  of  the  first  onset,  the  exposed  camps 
of  the  1 4th  Maine,  7th  Vermont,  and  2ist  Indi 
ana  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Confederates.  The 
9th  Connecticut,  with  Manning's  battery,  moved 
to  the  support  of  the  I4th  Maine  and  2ist  Indiana, 
on  the  right  of  the  former,  and  the  4th  Wisconsin 
formed  on  the  left  of  the  I4th.  Further  to  the 
right,  the  3Oth  Massachusetts  advanced  to  the  sup 
port  of  the  2ist  Indiana  and  6th  Michigan,  cov 
ering  the  interval  between  the  two  battalions  to 
replace  the  7th  Vermont.  In  the  first  fighting  in 
the  darkness  and  the  fog  this  regiment  had  been 
roughly  handled ;  its  colonel  fell,  a  momentary 
confusion  followed,  and  the  regiment  drifted  back 
into  a  convenient  position,  where  it  was  soon  re 
formed,  under  Captain  Porter.  Nims  brought  his 
guns  into  battery  on  the  right  of  the  6th  Michigan. 

The  battle  was  short,  but  the  fighting  was  severe  ; 
both  sides  suffered  heavily,  and  each  fell  into 


38  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

some  disorder.  At  different  moments  both  wings 
of  the  Confederate  force  were  broken,  and  fell 
back  in  something  not  very  unlike  panic.  The 
colors  of  the  4th  Louisiana  were  captured  by 
the  6th  Michigan.  As  the  fog  lifted,  under  the 
influence  of  the  increasing  heat,  it  became  clear  to 
both  sides  that  the  attack  had  failed.  The  force 
of  the  fierce  Confederate  onset  was  quite  spent. 
The  Union  lines,  however  thinned  and  shattered, 
remained  in  possession  of  the  prize.  "  It  was  now  ten 
o'clock,"  says  Breckinridge.  "  We  had  listened  in 
vain  for  the  guns  of  the  Arkansas :  I  saw  around  me 
not  more  than  1,000  exhausted  men."  The  battle 
was  over.  Indeed  it  had  been  over  for  some  hours  ; 
these  words  probably  indicate  the  period  when  the 
Confederate  commander  gave  up  his  last  hope. 

The  Arkansas,  disabled  within  sight  of  the  goal 
by  an  accident  to  her  machinery,  was  run  ashore 
and  destroyed  by  her  commander  to  save  her  from 
capture.  The  Confederate  losses  were  about  84 
killed,  313  wounded,  and  56  missing;  total,  453. 
Clark  was  severely  wounded  and  made  prisoner. 
Allen  was  killed,  and  two  other  brigade  commanders 
wounded.  Helm,  Hunt,  and  Thompson  had  been 
previously  disabled  by  an  accident  during  the  night 
panic. 

The  Union  losses  were  84  killed,  266  wounded,  and 
33  missing ;  total,  383.  The  heaviest  loss  fell  upon 
the  2ist  Indiana,  which  suffered  126  casualties,  and 
upon  the  i4th  Maine,  which  reported  118.  Of  the 
killed,  36,  or  nearly  one  half,  belonged  to  the  i4th 
Maine,  while  more  than  two  thirds  of  the  killed  and 
nearly  two  thirds  of  the  total  belonged  to  that  regi 
ment  and  the  2ist  Indiana.  The  4th  Wisconsin, 


BATON  ROUGE.  39 

being  posted  quite  to  the  left  of  the  point  of  attack, 
was  not  engaged. 

Colonel  G.  T.  Roberts,  of  the  7th  Vermont,  fell 
early  in  the  action,  and  near  its  close  Williams  was 
instantly  killed  while  urging  his  men  to  the  attack. 
In  him  his  little  brigade  lost  the  only  commander 
present  of  experience  in  war ;  the  country,  a  brave  and 
accomplished  soldier.  If  he  was,  as  must  be  confessed, 
arbitrary,  at  times  unreasonable,  and  often  harsh,  in 
his  treatment  of  his  untrained  volunteers,  yet  many 
who  then  thought  his  discipline  too  severe  to  be 
endured,  lived  to  know,  and  by  their  conduct  vindi 
cate,  the  value  of  his  training. 

The  Confederates  appear  to  have  suffered  to  some 
extent  during  the  last  attack,  until  the  lines  drew  too 
near  together,  from  the  fire  of  the  Essex  and  her  con 
sorts.  Ransom  also  speaks  of  having  shelled  the 
enemy  with  great  effect  during  the  afternoon  from 
the  Kineo  and  Katahdin,  accurately  directed  by  sig 
nals  from  the  capitol ;  but  no  other  account  even  men 
tions  any  firing  at  that  period  of  the  day ;  the  effect 
cannot,  therefore,  have  been  severe,  and  it  seems 
probable  that  the  troops  against  whom  it  was  directed 
may  have  been  some  outlying  party. 

Cahill's  seniority  entitled  him  to  the  command  after 
Williams  fell,  yet  during  the  remainder  of  the  battle 
Dudley  seems  to  have  commanded  the  troops  actually 
engaged.  Shortly  after  the  close  of  the  action  Cahill 
assumed  the  command  and  sent  word  to  Butler  of 
the  state  of  affairs. 

The  Confederates  were  still  to  be  seen  upon  the 
field  of  battle.  Their  force  was  naturally  enough 
over-estimated.  Another  attack  was  expected  during 
the  afternoon,  and  reinforcements  were  urgently  called 


40  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

for.  Butler  had  none  to  give  without  putting  New 
Orleans  itself  in  peril.  However,  during  the  evening 
he  determined  to  release  from  arrest  a  number  of  offi 
cers  who  had  been  deprived  of  their  swords  by  Wil 
liams  at  various  times,  and  for  various  causes,  mainly 
growing  out  of  the  confused  and  as  yet  rather  un 
settled  policy  of  the  government  in  reference  to  the 
treatment  of  the  negroes,  and  to  send  all  these  officers 
to  Baton  Rouge.  Among  them  were  Colonel  Paine 
of  the  4th  Wisconsin  and  Colonel  Clark  of  the  6th 
Michigan.  Since  the  nth  of  June  Paine  had  been  in 
arrest ;  an  arrest  of  a  character  peculiar  and  perhaps 
unprecedented  in  the  history  of  armies.  Whenever 
danger  was  to  be  faced,  or  unusual  duty  to  be  per 
formed,  he  might  wear  his  sword  and  command  his 
men,  but  the  moment  the  duty  or  the  danger  was  at  an 
end  he  must  go  back  into  arrest.  Paine,  who  was  an  ex 
tremely  conscientious  officer,  as  well  as  a  man  of  high 
character  and  firmness  of  purpose,  had  from  the  first 
taken  strong  ground  against  the  use  of  any  portion  of 
his  force  in  aid  of  the  claims  of  the  master  to  the  ser 
vice  of  the  slave.  Williams,  strict  in  his  idea  of  obedi 
ence  due  his  superiors,  not  less  than  in  his  notions 
of  obedience  due  to  him  by  his  own  inferiors  in  rank, 
stood  upon  his  construction  of  the  law  and  the  orders 
of  the  War  Department,  as  they  then  existed  ;  hence 
in  the  natural  course  of  events  inevitably  arose  more 
than  one  irreconcilable  difference  of  opinion.  Paine 
was  now  ordered  to  go  at  once  to  Baton  Rouge  and 
take  command:  He  was  told  by  Butler  to  burn  the  town 
and  the  capitol.  The  library,  the  paintings,  the  stat 
uary,  and  the  relics  were  to  be  spared,  as  well  as  the 
charitable  institutions  of  the  town.  The  books,  the 
paintings,  and  the  statue  of  Washington,  he  was  to 


BATON  ROUGE.  41 

send  to  New  Orleans ;  he  was  then  to  evacuate 
Baton  Rouge  and  retire  with  his  whole  force  to 
New  Orleans. 

At  midnight  on  the  6th  of  August  Paine  arrived  at 
Baton  Rouge.  There  he  found  every  thing  quiet, 
with  the  troops  in  camp  on  an  interior  and  shorter 
line,  but  expecting  another  attack.  There  was 
in  fact  an  alarm  before  morning  came,  but  nothing 
happened.  On  the  7th  Paine  took  command  and 
set  about  putting  the  town  in  complete  condition 
for  an  effective  defence.  With  his  accustomed  care 
and  energy  he  soon  rectified  the  lines  and  en 
trenched  them  with  twenty-four  guns  in  position,  and, 
in  co-operation  with  the  navy,  concerted  every  measure 
for  an  effective  defence,  even  against  large  numbers. 

Breckinridge,  however,  after  continuing  to  menace 
Baton  Rouge  for  some  days,  had,  by  Van  Dorn's 
orders,  retired  to  Port  Hudson,  and  was  now  en 
gaged  in  fortifying  that  position.  Ru^'gles  was  sent 
there  on  the  i2th  of  August.  The  next  day  Breckin 
ridge  received  orders  from  Van  Dorn,  then  at  Jack 
son,  to  follow  with  his  whole  force.  "  Port  Hudson," 
Van  Dorn  said,  "must  be  held  if  possible."  "Port 
Hudson,"  remarks  Breckinridge,  in  his  report  of  the 
battle  of  Baton  Rouge,  "  is  one  of  the  strongest 
points  on  the  Mississippi,  which  Baton  Rouge  is  not, 
and  batteries  there  will  command  the  river  more 
completely  than  at  Vicksburg." 

Meanwhile  Butler  had  changed  his  mind  with 
regard  to  the  evacuation  of  Baton  Rouge,  and  had 
directed  Paine  to  hold  the  place  for  the  present. 
With- an  accuracy  unusual  at  this  period,  Butler  esti 
mated  Breckinridge's  entire  force  at  5,000  men  and 
fourteen  guns.  On  the  I3th  the  defences  were  com- 


42  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

plete,  the  entrenchments  forming  two  sides  of  a 
triangle  of  which  the  river  was  the  base  and  the 
cemetery  mound  the  apex.  The  troops  stood  to 
arms  at  three  o'clock  every  morning ;  one  fourth  of 
the  force  was  constantly  under  arms,  day  and  night, 
at  its  station.  At  two  points  on  each  face  of  the 
entrenchments  flags  were  planted  by  day  and  lights 
by  night,  to  indicate  to  the  gunboats  their  line  of  fire. 

On  the  1 6th  of  August  Butler  renewed  his  orders 
to  burn  and  evacuate  Baton  Rouge.  Its  retention 
up  to  this  time  he  had  avowedly  regarded  as  having 
political  rather  than  military  importance.  Now  he 
wrote  to  Paine  :  "  I  am  constrained  to  come  to  the  con 
clusion  that  it  is  necessary  to  evacuate  Baton  Rouge. 
.  .  .  Begin  the  movement  quietly  and  rapidly  ;  get 
every  thing  off  except  your  men,  and  then  see  to  it  that 
the  town  is  destroyed.  After  mature  deliberation  I 
deem  this  a  military  necessity  of  the  highest  order." 

Against  these  orders  Paine  made  an  earnest  appeal, 
based  upon  considerations  partly  humane,  partly 
military.  He  was  so  far  successful  that  Butler  was 
induced  to  countermand  the  order  to  burn.  The 
movement  was  not  to  be  delayed  on  account  of  the 
statue  of  Washington.  However,  the  statue  had 
been  already  packed.  It  is  now  in  the  Patent 
Office  at  the  national  capital.  All  the  books  and 
paintings  were  brought  off,  "  except,"  to  quote  from 
Paine's  diary,  "  the  portrait  of  James  Buchanan, 
which  we  left  hanging  in  the  State  House  for  his 
friends."  Finally,  on  the  2Oth,  Paine  evacuated 
Baton  Rouge,  and  on  the  following  day  reached  the 
lines  of  Carrolton,  known  as  Camp  Parapet,  and 
turned  over  his  command  to  Phelps. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

LA  FOURCHE. 

ON  the  22d  of  August  Paine  was  assigned  to 
the  command  of  what  was  called  the  "reserve  bri 
gade  "  of  a  division  under  Phelps.  The  brigade  was 
composed  of  the  4th  Wisconsin,  2ist  Indiana,  and 
1 4th  Maine,  with  Brown's  battery  attached  to  the 
Indiana  regiment.  But  this  was  not  to  last,  for 
the  tension  that  had  long  existed  between  Phelps 
and  the  department  commander,  on  the  subject 
of  the  treatment  of  the  negroes,  as  well  as  on  the 
question  of  arming  and  employing  them,  finally 
resulted  in  Phelps's  resignation  on  the  2ist  of 
August.  On  the  J3th  of  September  he  was  succeeded 
by  Brigadier-General  Thomas  W.  Sherman,  himself 
recently  relieved  from  command  of  the  Department 
of  the  South,  partly,  perhaps,  in  consequence  of  differ 
ences  of  opinion  of  a  like  character. 

On  the  29th  of  September  the  division,  then  known 
as  Sherman's  was  reorganized,  and  Paine  took  com 
mand  of  the  ist  brigade,  composed  of  the  4th 
Wisconsin,  2ist  Indiana,  and  8th  New  Hampshire 
regiments  with  the  ist  and  2d  Vermont  batteries 
and  Brown's  guns  of  the  2 ist  Indiana.  Paine's  com 
mand  also  included  Camp  Parapet.  These  lines 
had  been  originally  laid  out  by  the  Confederates  for 
the  defence  of  New  Orleans  against  an  attack  by 

43 


44  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

land  from  the  north  ;  as,  for  example,  by  a  force 
approaching  through  Lake  Ponchartrain  and  Pass 
Manchac.  They  were  now  put  in  thorough  order, 
and  the  Indianians,  who  had  received  some  artillery 
instruction  during  their  term  of  service  at  Fort 
McHenry,  completed  the  foundation  for  their  future 
service  as  heavy  artillerists  by  going  back  to  the  big 
guns.  In  October  and  November  the  8th  New 
Hampshire  and  2ist  Indiana  were  transferred  to 
Weitzel's  brigade  and  were  replaced  in  Paine's  by  the 
2d  Louisiana  and  temporarily  by  the  I2th  Maine. 

The  official  reports  covering  this  period  afford 
several  strong  hints  of  a  Confederate  plan  for  the 
recapture  of  New  Orleans.  With  this  object,  ap 
parently,  Richard  Taylor,  a  prominent  and  wealthy 
Louisianian,  closely  allied  to  Jefferson  Davis  by 
his  first  marriage  with  the  daughter  of  Zachary  Tay 
lor,  was  made  a  major-general  in  the  Confederate 
army,  and  on  the  ist  of  August  was  assigned  to  com 
mand  the  Confederate  forces  in  Western  Louisiana. 
It  seems  likely  that  the  troops  of  Van  Dorn's  depart 
ment,  as  well  as  those  at  Mobile,  were  expected  to 
take  part. 

On  the  8th  of  August  orders  were  issued  by  the 
War  Department  transferring  the  district  of  West 
Florida  to  the  Department  of  the  Gulf.  West 
Florida  meant  Pensacola.  Fort  Pickens,  on  the 
sands  of  Santa  Rosa,  commanding  the  entrance  to 
the  splendid  harbor,  owed  to  the  loyalty  of  a  few 
staunch  officers  of  the  army  and  the  navy  the  proud 
distinction  of  being  the  one  spot  between  the  Chesa 
peake  and  the  Rio  Grande  over  which,  in  spite  of  all 
hostile  attempts,  the  ensign  of  the  nation  had  never 
ceased  to  float ;  for  the  works  at  Key  West  and  the 


LA  FOURCHE.  45 

Dry  Tortugas,  though  likewise  held,  were  never 
menaced.  Though  Bragg  early  gathered  a  large 
force  for  the  capture  of  the  fort,  the  only  serious 
attempt,  made  in  the  dawn  of  the  gth  of  October, 
1 86 1,  was  repulsed  with  a  loss  to  the  Confederates  of 
87,  to  the  Union  troops  of  61.  Of  these,  the  6th 
New  York  had  9  killed,  7  wounded,  1 1  missing — in 
all,  27.  In  December  the  75th  New  York  came  down 
from  the  North  to  reinforce  the  defenders.  Finally, 
after  learning  the  fate  of  New  Orleans,  Bragg  evacu 
ated  Pensacola,  and  burned  his  surplus  stores,  and 
on  the  loth  of  May,  1862,  Porter,  seeing  from  the 
passes  the  glare  of  the  flames,  ran  over  and  anchored 
in  the  bay.  The  advantage  thus  gained  was  held  to 
the  end. 

This  transfer  gave  Butler  two  strong  infantry  regi 
ments,  as  well  as  several  fine  batteries  and  companies 
of  the  regular  artillery,  but  at  the  same  time  corre 
spondingly  increased  the  territory  he  had  to  guard, 
already  far  too  extensive  and  too  widely  scattered  for 
the  small  force  at  his  disposal. 

Toward  the  end  of  September  Lieutenant  Godfrey 
Weitzel,  of  the  engineers,  having  been  made  a  briga 
dier-general  on  Butler's  recommendation,  a  promotion 
more  than  usually  justified  by  service  and  talent,  a 
brigade  was  formed  for  him  called  the  Reserve  Bri 
gade,  and  consisting  of  the  i2th  and  i3th  Connecti 
cut,  75th  New  York,  and  8th  New  Hampshire, 
Carruth's  6th  Massachusetts  battery,  Thompson's  ist 
Maine  battery,  Perkins's  Troop  C  of  the  Massachusetts 
cavalry,  and  three  troops  of  Louisiana  cavalry  under 
Williamson.  From  that  time,  through  all  the  changes, 
which  were  many  and  frequent,  Weitzel's  brigade 
changed  less  than  any  thing  else,  and  its  history 


46  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

may  almost  be  said  to  be  the  military  history  of  the 
Department. 

Taylor,  with  his  accustomed  energy  and  enthusiasm, 
had  collected  and  organized  a  force,  primarily  for  the 
defence  of  the  La  Fourche  country  and  the  Teche, 
ultimately  for  the  offensive  operations  already  planned. 
Butler  at  once  committed  to  Weitzel  the  preparations 
for  dislodging  Taylor  and  occupying  La  Fourche. 
This  object  was  important,  not  only  to  secure  the 
defence  of  New  Orleans,  but  because  the  territory  to 
be  occupied  comprised  or  controlled  the  fertile  region 
between  the  Mississippi  and  the  Atchafalaya.  The 
country  lies  low  and  flat,  and  is  intersected  by  numer 
ous  navigable  bayous,  with  but  narrow  roadways  along 
their  banks  and  elsewhere  none.  Without  naval 
assistance,  the  operation  would  have  been  difficult, 
if  not  impossible  ;  and  the  navy  had  in  Louisiana 
no  gunboats  of  a  draught  light  enough  for  the  service. 
With  the  funds  of  the  army  Butler  caused  four  light 
gunboats,  the  Estrella,  Calhoun,  Kinsman,  and 
Diana,  to  be  quietly  built  and  equipped,  the  navy 
furnishing  the  officers  and  the  crews.  Under  Com 
mander  McKean  Buchanan  they  were  then  sent  by 
the  gulf  to  Berwick  Bay. 

When  he  was  ready,  Weitzel  took  transports,  under 
convoy  of  the  Kineo,  Sciota,  Katahdin,  and  Itasca, 
landed  below  Donaldsonville,  entered  the  town,  and 
on  the  27th  of  October  moved  on  Thibodeaux,  the 
heart  of  the  district.  At  Georgia  Landing,  about  two 
miles  above  Labadieville,  he  encountered  the  Con 
federates  under  Mouton,  consisting  of  the  i8th  and 
33d  Louisiana,  the  Crescent  and  Terre  Bonne  regi 
ments,  with  Ralston's  and  Semmes's  batteries  and  the 
2d  Louisiana  cavalry,  in  all  reported  by  Mouton  as 


LA  FOURCHE.  47 

1,392  strong.  They  had  taken  up  a  defensive 
position  on  both  sides  of  the  bayou.  Along  these 
bayous  the  standing  room  is  for  the  most  part  nar 
row  ;  and  as  the  land,  although  low,  is  in  general 
heavily  wooded  and  crossed  by  many  ditches  of  con 
siderable  depth,  the  country  affords  defensive  posi 
tions  at  once  stronger  and  more  numerous  than  are 
to  be  found  in  most  flat  regions.  Small  bodies  of 
troops,  familiar  with  the  topography,  have  also  this 
further  advantage,  that  there  are  few  points  from 
which  their  position  and  numbers  can  be  easily 
made  out. 

After  a  short  but  spirited  engagement  Mouton's 
force  was  compelled  to  retreat.  Weitzel  pursued  for 
about  four  miles. 

Mouton  then  called  in  his  outlying  detachments, 
including  the  La  Fourche  regiment,  500  strong,  300 
men  of  the  33d  Louisiana,  and  the  regiments  of  Saint 
Charles  and  St.  John  Baptist,  burned  the  railway 
station  of  Terre  Bonne  and  the  bridges  at  Thibo- 
deaux,  La  Fourche  Crossing,  Terre  Bonne,  Des 
Allemands,  and  Bayou  Bceuf,  and  evacuated  the 
district.  By  the  3Oth,  every  thing  was  safely  across 
Berwick  Bay.  For  this  escape,  he  was  indebted  to 
an  opportune  gale  that  compelled  Buchanan's  gun 
boats  to  lie  to  in  Caillou  Bay  on  their  way  to 
Berwick  Bay,  to  cut  off  the  retreat.  Mouton's  re 
port  accounts  for  5  killed,  8  wounded,  and  186 
missing;  in  all  199.  Among  the  killed  was  Colonel 
G.  P.  McPheeters  of  the  Crescent  regiment. 

Weitzel  followed  to  Thibodeaux,  and  went  into 
camp  beyond  the  town.  He  claims  to  have  taken 
208  prisoners  and  one  gun,  and  states  his  own  losses 
as  1 8  killed,  and  74  wounded,  agreeing  with  the  nomi- 


48  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

nal  lists,  which  also  contain  the  names  of  5  missing, 
thus  bringing  the  total  casualties  to  97. 

Arriving  off  Brashear  a  day  too  late,  Buchanan  was 
partly  consoled  by  capturing  the  Confederate  gunboat 
Seger.  On  the  4th  and  5th  of  November  he  made  a 
reconnoissance  fourteen  miles  up  the  Teche  with  his 
own  boat,  the  Calhoun,  and  the  Estrella,  Kinsman, 
Saint  Marys,  and  Diana,  and  meeting  a  portion  of 
Mouton's  forces  and  the  Confederate  gunboat  J.  A. 
Cotton,  received  and  inflicted  some  damage  and  slight 
losses,  yet  with  no  material  result. 

Simultaneously  with  Weitzel's  movement  on  La 
Fourche,  Butler  pushed  the  8th  Vermont  and  the 
newly  organized  ist  Louisiana  Native  Guards  for 
ward  from  Algiers  along  the  Opelousas  Railway,  to 
act  in  conjunction  with  Weitzel  and  to  open  the 
railway  as  they  advanced.  Weitzel  had  already 
turned  the  enemy  out  of  his  position,  but  the  task 
committed  to  Thomas  was  slow  and  hard,  for  all  the 
bridges  and  many  culverts  had  to  be  rebuilt,  and  from 
long  disuse  of  the  line  the  rank  grass,  that  in  Louisi 
ana  springs  up  so  freely  in  every  untrodden  spot 
above  water,  had  grown  so  tall  and  thick  and  strongly 
matted,  that  the  troops  had  to  pull  it  up  by  the  roots 
before  the  locomotive  could  pass. 

So  ended  operations  in  Louisiana  for  this  year. 
Until  the  following  spring,  Taylor  continued  to 
occupy  the  Teche  region,  while  Weitzel  rested  quietly 
in  La  Fourche,  with  his  headquarters  at  Thibodeaux 
and  his  troops  so  disposed  as  to  cover  and  hold  the 
country  without  losing  touch.  On  the  Qth  of  Novem 
ber,  the  whole  of  Louisiana  lying  west  of  the  Missis 
sippi,  except  the  delta  parishes  of  Plaquemine  and 
Terre  Bonne,  was  constituted  a  military  district  to  be 


LA  FOURCHE.  49 

known  as  the  District  of  La  Fourche,  and  Weitzel 
was  assigned  to  the  command. 

Meanwhile  General  Butler,  with  the  consent  of  the 
War  Department,  had  raised,  organized,  and  equipped, 
in  the  neighborhood  of  New  Orleans,  two  good  regi 
ments  of  infantry,  the  ist  Louisiana,  Colonel  Richard 
E.  Holcomb,  and  the  2d  Louisiana,  Colonel  Charles 
J.  Paine,  both  regiments  admirably  commanded  and 
well  officered ;  three  excellent  troops  of  Louisiana 
cavalry,  under  fine  leaders,  Captains  Henry  F.  Wil 
liamson,  Richard  Barrett,  and  J.  F.  Godfrey  ;  and 
beside  these  white  troops,  three  regiments  of  ne 
groes,  designated  as  the  ist,  2d,  and  3d  Louisiana 
Native  Guards.  This  was  the  name  originally  em 
ployed  by  Governor  Moore  early  in  1861,  to  describe 
an  organization  of  the  free  men  of  color  of  New  Or 
leans  enrolled  for  the  defence  of  the  city  against  the 
expected  attack  by  the  forces  of  the  Union. 

This  action  was  taken  by  Butler  of  his  own  motion. 
It  was  never  formally  approved  by  the  government, 
but  it  was  not  interfered  with.  These  three  regiments 
were  the  first  negro  troops  mustered  into  the  service 
of  the  United  States.  At  least  one  of  them,  the  ist, 
was  largely  made  up  of  men  of  that  peculiar  and  ex 
clusive  caste  known  to  the  laws  of  slavery  as  the  free 
men  of  color  of  Louisiana.  All  the  field  and  staff 
officers  were  white  men,  mainly  taken  from  the  rolls 
of  the  troops  already  in  service  ;  but  at  first  all  the 
company  officers  were  negroes.  As  this  was  the  first 
experiment,  it  was  perhaps,  in  the  state  of  feeling  then 
prevailing,  inevitable,  yet  not  the  less  to  be  regretted, 
that  the  white  officers  were,  with  some  notable  ex 
ceptions,  inferior  men.  Fortunately,  however,  courts- 
martial  and  examining  boards  made  their  career  for 


50  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

the  most  part  a  short  one.  As  for  the  colored  officers 
of  the  line,  early  in  1863  they  were  nearly  all  dis 
qualified  on  the  most  rudimentary  examination,  and 
then  the  rest  resigned.  After  that,  the  government 
having  determined  to  raise  a  large  force  of  negro 
troops,  it  became  the  settled  policy  to  grant  commis 
sions  as  officers  to  none  but  white  men. 

The  ist  and  26.  regiments  were  sent  into  the  district 
of  La  Fourche  to  guard  the  railway. 

Then,  between  Butler  and  Weitzel,  in  spite  of  con 
fidence  on  the  one  hand  and  respect  and  affection  on 
the  other,  began  the  usual  controversy  about  arming 
the  negro.  To  one  unacquainted  with  the  history  of 
this  question  and  of  those  times  it  must  seem  strange 
indeed  to  read  the  emphatic  words  in  which  a  soldier 
so  loyal  and,  in  the  best  sense,  so  subordinate  as 
Weitzel,  declared  his  unwillingness  to  command  these 
troops,  and  to  reflect  that  in  little  more  than  two  years 
he  was  destined  to  accept  with  alacrity  the  command 
of  a  whole  army  corps  of  black  men,  and  at  last  to 
ride  in  triumph  at  their  head  into  the  very  capital  of 
the  Confederacy. 

With  the  exception  of  the  levies  raised  by  its  com 
mander,  the  Department  of  the  Gulf  had  so  far  re 
ceived  no  access  of  strength  from  any  quarter.  From 
the  North  had  come  hardly  a  recruit.  In  the  intense 
heat  and  among  the  poisonous  swamps  the  effective 
strength  melted  away  day  by  day.  Thus  the  num 
bers  present  fell  3,795  during  the  month  of  July; 
in  October,  when  the  sickly  season  had  done  its  worst, 
the  wastage  reached  a  total  of  5,390.  At  the  time  of 
the  battle  of  Baton  Rouge,  Butler's  effective  force  can 
hardly  have  exceeded  7,000.  When  his  strength  was 
the  greatest  it  probably  did  not  exceed,  if  indeed  it 


LA  FOURCHE.  51 

reached,  the  number  of  13,000  effective.  The  condi 
tion  of  affairs  was  therefore  such  that  Butler  found 
himself  with  an  army  barely  sufficient  for  the  secure 
defence  of  the  vast  territory  committed  to  his  care, 
and  for  any  offensive  operation  absolutely  powerless. 
To  hold  what  had  been  gained  it  was  practically 
necessary  to  sit  still  ;  and  to  sit  still  then,  as  always 
in  all  wars,  was  to  invite  attack. 

These  things  Butler  did  not  fail  to  represent  to  the 
government,  and  to  repeat.  At  last,  about  the  middle 
of  November,  he  received  a  few  encouraging  words 
from  Halleck,  dated  the  3d  of  that  month,  in  which 
he  was  assured  that  the  "  delay  in  sending  reinforce 
ments  has  not  been  the  fault  of  the  War  Department. 
It  is  hoped  that  some  will  be  ready  to  start  as  soon 
as  the  November  elections  are  over.  Brigadier- 
generals  will  be  sent  with  these  reinforcements." 
With  them  was  to  be  a  major-general,  the  new  com 
mander  of  the  department ;  but  this  Halleck  did  not 
say. 


CHAPTER  V. 

BANKS  IN  COMMAND. 

WHEN  the  campaigns  of  1862  were  drawing  to  an 
end,  the  government  changed  all  the  commanders 
and  turned  to  the  consideration  of  new  plans.  With 
President  Lincoln,  as  we  have  seen,  the  opening  of 
the  Mississippi  had  long  been  a  favored  scheme.  His 
early  experience  had  rendered  him  familiar  with  the 
waters,  the  shores,  and  the  vast  traffic  of  the  great 
river,  and  had  brought  home  to  him  the  common 
interests  and  the  mutual  dependence  of  the  farmers, 
the  traders,  the  miners,  and  the  manufacturers  of  the 
States  bordering  upon  the  upper  Mississippi  and  the 
Ohio  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  the  merchants  and 
planters  of  the  Gulf  on  the  other.  Thus  he  was 
fully  prepared  to  enter  warmly  into  the  idea  that  had 
taken  possession  of  the  minds  and  hearts  of  the 
people  of  the  Northwest.  From  a  vague  longing 
this  idea  had  now  grown  into  a  deep  and  settled  sen 
timent.  Indeed  in  all  the  West  the  opening  of  the 
Mississippi  played  a  part  that  can  only  be  realized 
by  comparing  it  with  the  prevailing  sentiment  of  the 
East,  so  early,  so  long,  so  loudly  expressed  in  the  cry, 
"On  to  Richmond!" 

That  the  President  should  have  been  in  complete 
accord  with  the  popular  impulse  is  hardly  to  be 
wondered  at  by  any  one  that  has  followed,  with  the 

52 


BANKS  IN  COMMAND.  53 

least  attention,  the  details  of  his  remarkable  career. 
Moreover,  the  popular  impulse  was  right.  Wars 
take  their  character  from  the  causes  that  produce 
them  and  the  people  or  the  nations  by  whom  they 
are  waged.  This  was  not  a  contest  upon  some  petty 
question  involving  the  fate  of  a  ministry,  a  dynasty,  or 
even  a  monarchy,  to  be  fought  out  between  regular 
armies  upon  well-known  plans  at  the  convergence  of 
the  roads  between  two  opposing  capitals.  The  strug 
gle  was  virtually  one  between  two  peoples  hitherto 
united  as  one, — between  the  people  of  the  North, 
who  had  taken  up  arms  for  the  maintenance  and  the 
restoration  of  the  Union,  and  the  people  of  the 
South,  who  had  taken  up  arms  to  destroy  the  Union. 
Of  such  an  issue  there  could  be  no  compromise  ;  to 
such  a  contest  there  could  be  no  end  short  of  ex 
haustion.  For  four  long  years  it  was  destined  to  go 
on,  and  at  times  to  rage  with  a  fury  almost  unex 
ampled  along  lines  whose  length  was  measured  by 
the  thousand  miles  and  over  a  battle-ground  nearly 
as  large  as  the  continent  of  Europe.  Looked  at 
merely  from  the  standpoint  of  strategy,  and  discard 
ing  all  considerations  not  directly  concerning  the 
movements  of  armies,  true  policy  might,  perhaps,  have 
dictated  the  concentration  of  all  available  resources 
in  men  and  material  upon  the  great  central  line  of 
operations,  roughly  indicated  by  the  mention  of 
Chattanooga  and  Atlanta, — the  road  eventually  fol 
lowed  by  Sherman  in  his  triumphant  march  to  the 
sea.  Apart,  however,  from  considerations  strictly 
tactical,  the  importance  of  cutting  off  the  trans- 
Mississippi  region  as  a  source  of  supply  for  the  main 
Confederate  armies  was  obvious ;  while  from  the 
governments  of  Europe,  of  England  and  France 


54  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

above  all,  the  pressure  was  great  for  cotton,  partly, 
indeed,  as  a  pretext  for  interfering  in  our  domestic 
struggle  to  their  own  advantage,  but  largely,  also,  to 
enable  those  governments  to  quiet  the  cry  of  the 
starving  millions  of  their  people. 

Instructed,  as  well  as  warned,  by  the  events  of  the 
previous  summer,  the  President  now  resolved  on  a 
combined  attempt  by  two  strong  columns.  On  the 
2 ist  of  October  he  sent  Major-General  John  A. 
McClernand  to  Indiana,  Illinois,  and  Iowa,  with 
confidential  orders,  authorizing  him  to  raise  troops 
for  an  expedition,  under  his  command,  to  move 
against  Vicksburg  from  Cairo  or  Memphis  as  a  place 
of  rendezvous,  and  "  to  clear  the  Mississippi  River 
and  open  navigation  to  New  Orleans."  Perhaps 
because  of  the  confidence  still  felt  in  Grant  by  the 
President  himself,  although  within  narrowing  limits, 
Grant  was  not  to  share  the  fate  of  McClellan,  of 
Buell,  and  of  so  many  others.  The  secret  orders  were 
not  made  known  to  him,  yet  it  was  settled  that  he 
was  to  retain  the  command  of  his  department,  while 
the  principal  active  operations  of  the  army  within  its 
limits  were  to  be  conducted  by  another.  Even  for 
this  consideration  it  is  rather  more  than  likely  he 
was  indebted  in  a  great  degree  to  the  exceptional 
advantage  he  enjoyed  in  having  at  all  times  at  the 
seat  of  government,  in  the  person  of  Washburne,  a 
strong  and  devoted  party  of  one,  upon  whose  assist 
ance  the  government  daily  found  it  convenient  to 
lean. 

A  few  days  later,  on  the  3ist  of  October,  Major- 
General  Nathaniel  P.  Banks  was  sent  to  New  York 
and  Boston,  with  similar  orders,  to  collect  in  New 
England  and  New  York  a  force  for  the  co-operating 


BANKS  IN  COMMAND.  55 

column  from  New  Orleans.  On  the  8th  of  Novem 
ber  this  was  followed  by  the  formal  order  of  the 
President  assigning  Banks  to  the  command  of  the 
Department  of  the  Gulf,  including  the  State  of  Texas. 

This  assignment  was  wholly  unexpected  by  Banks. 
It  was,  indeed,  unsought  and  unsolicited,  and  the 
first  offer,  from  the  President  himself,  came  as  a  sur 
prise.  At  the  close  of  Pope's  campaign,  when 
the  reorganized  Army  of  the  Potomac,  once  more 
under  McClellan,  was  in  march  to  meet  Lee  in 
Maryland,  Banks  had  been  forced,  by  injuries  re 
ceived  at  Cedar  Mountain,  to  give  up  the  command 
of  the  Twelfth  Army  Corps  to  the  senior  division 
commander,  Brigadier-General  A.  S.  Williams.  As 
soon  as  this  was  reported  at  headquarters,  McClellan 
created  a  new  organization  under  the  name  of  the 
"Defences  of  Washington,"  and  placed  Banks  in 
command. 

For  some  time  after  this  Banks  was  unable  to  leave 
his  room  ;  yet,  within  forty-eight  hours,  a  mob  of 
thirty  thousand  wounded  men  and  convalescents,  who 
knew  not  where  to  go,  and  of  stragglers,  who  meant 
not  to  go  where  they  were  wanted,  was  cleared  out 
of  the  streets  of  Washington,  and  pandemonium  was 
at  an  end.  Order  was  rather  created  than  restored, 
since  none  had  existed  in  any  direction.  The  Fifth 
Corps  was  sent  to  join  the  army  in  the  field  ;  within 
a  fortnight,  a  full  army  corps  of  able-bodied  stragglers 
followed  ;  the  fortifications  were  completed  ;  ample 
garrisons  of  instructed  artillerists  were  provided. 
These  became  "the  Heavies"  of  Grant's  campaigns. 
Almost  another  full  army  corps  was  organized  from 
the  new  regiments.  Finally  the  whole  force  of  the 
defences,  about  equ-'l  in  numbers  to  Lee's  army,  was 


56  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

so  disposed  that  Washington  was  absolutely  secure. 
The  dispositions  for  the  defence  of  the  capital  and 
the  daily  operations  of  the  command  were  clearly  and 
constantly  made  known  to  the  President  and  Secre 
tary  of  War  as  well  as  to  the  General-in-chief.  Thus 
it  was  that,  less  than  two  months  later,  in  the  closing 
days  of  October,  President  Lincoln  sent  for  Banks 
and  said  :  ll  You  have  let  me  sleep  in  peace  for  the 
first  time  since  I  came  here.  I  want  you  to  go  to 
Louisiana  and  do  the  same  thing  there." 

On  the  9th  of  November  Halleck  communicated  to 
Banks  the  orders  of  the  President  to  proceed  imme 
diately  to  New  Orleans  with  the  troops  from  Balti 
more  and  elsewhere,  under  Emory,  already  assembling 
in  transports  at  Fort  Monroe.  An  additional  force 
of  ten  thousand  men,  he  was  told,  would  be  sent  to 
him  from  Boston  and  New  York  as  soon  as  possible. 
Though  this  order  was  never  formally  revoked  or 
modified,  yet  in  fact  it  was  from  the  first  a  dead 
letter,  and  Banks,  who  received  it  in  New  York,  re 
mained  there  to  complete  the  organization  and  to 
look  after  the  collection  and  transport  of  the  addi 
tional  force  mentioned  in  Halleck's  instructions.  In 
cluding  the  eight  regiments  of  Emory,  but  not 
counting  four  regiments  of  infantry  and  five  bat 
talions  of  cavalry  diverted  to  other  fields,  the  rein 
forcements  for  the  Department  of  the  Gulf  finally 
included  thirty-nine  regiments  of  infantry,  six  batteries 
of  artillery,  and  one  battalion  of  cavalry.  Of  the 
infantry  twenty-one  regiments  were  composed  of 
officers  and  men  enlisted  to  serve  for  nine  months. 
Even  of  this  brief  period  many  weeks  had,  in  some 
cases,  already  elapsed.  To  command  the  brigades 
and  divisions,  when  organized,  Major-General  Chris- 


BANKS  IN  COMMAND.  57 

topher  C.  Augur,  and  Brigadier-Generals  Cuvier 
Grover,  William  Dwight,  George  L.  Andrews,  and 
James  Bowen  were  ordered  to  report  to  Banks. 

The  work  of  chartering  the  immense  fleet  required 
to  transport  this  force,  with  its  material  of  all  kinds, 
was  confided  by  the  government  to  Cornelius  Van- 
derbilt,  possibly  in  recognition  of  his  recent  princely 
gift  to  the  nation  of  the  finest  steamship  of  his  fleet, 
bearing  his  own  name.  This  service  Vanderbilt  per 
formed  with  his  usual  vigor,  "  laying  hands,"  as  he 
said,  "upon  every  thing  that  could  float  or  steam," 
including,  it  must  be  added,  more  than  one  vessel  to 
which  it  would  have  been  rash  to  ascribe  either  of 
these  qualities. 

Before  the  embarkation  each  vessel  was  carefully 
inspected  by  a  board  of  officers,  usually  composed  of 
the  inspector-general  or  an  officer  of  his  department, 
an  experienced  quartermaster,  and  an  officer  of  rank 
and  intelligence,  who  was  himself  to  sail  on  the  ves 
sel.  This  last  was  a  new,  but,  as  soon  appeared,  a 
very  necessary  precaution.  When  every  thing  was 
nearly  ready  the  embarkation  began  at  New  York, 
and  as  each  vessel  was  loaded  she  was  sent  to  sea 
with  sealed  orders  directing  her  master  and  the  com 
manding  officer  of  the  troops  to  make  the  best  of 
their  way  to  Ship  Island,  and  there  await  the  further 
instructions  of  the  general  commanding.  Ship  Island 
was  chosen  for  the  place  of  meeting  because  of  the 
great  draught  of  water  of  some  of  the  vessels.  At 
the  same  time  Emory's  force,  embarking  at  Hampton 
Roads,  set  out  under  convoy  of  the  man-of-war  Au 
gusta,  Commander  E.  G.  Parrott,  for  the  same  des 
tination  with  similar  orders. 

For  three  months  the  Florida  had  lain  at  anchor 


58  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

in  the  harbor  at  Mobile,  only  waiting  for  a  good 
opportunity  to  enter  upon  her  historic  career  of  de 
struction.  Since  the  2oth  of  August  the  Alabama 
was  known  to  have  been  scourging  our  commerce  in 
the  North  Atlantic  from  the  Azores  to  the  Antilles. 
On  the  5th  of  December  she  took  a  prize  off  the 
northern  coast  of  San  Domingo.  Relying  on  the  in 
formation  with  which  he  was  freely  furnished,  Semmes 
expected  to  find  the  expedition  off  Galveston  about 
the  middle  of  January.  In  the  dead  of  night,  "  after 
the  midwatch  was  set  and  all  was  quiet,"  he  meant,  in 
the  words  of  his  executive  officer,1  slowly  to  approach 
the  transports,  "  steam  among  them  with  both  bat 
teries  in  action,  slowly  steam  through  the  midst  of 
them,  pouring  in  a  continuous  discharge  of  shell,  and 
sink  them  as  we  went."  Fortunately  Semmes's  infor 
mation,  though  profuse  and  precise,  was  not  quite 
accurate,  for  it  brought  him  off  Galveston  on  the 
1 3th  of  January:  the  wrong  port,  a  month  too  late. 
What  might  have  happened  is  shown  by  the  ease 
with  which  he  then  destroyed  the  Hatteras. 

To  guard  against  these  dangers,  it  had  been  the 
wish  of  the  government,  and  was  a  part  of  the  original 
plan,  that  the  transports  sailing  from  New  York 
should  be  formed  in  a  single  fleet  and  proceed,  under 
strong  convoy,  to  its  destination.  However,  it  soon 
became  evident  that  as  the  rate  of  sailing  of  a  fleet 
is  governed  by  that  of  its  slowest  ship,  the  expedition, 
thus  organized,  would  be  forced  to  crawl  along  the 
coast  at  a  speed  hardly  greater  than  five  miles  an 
hour.  This  would  not  only  have  exposed  three  ships 
out  of  five,  and  five  regiments  out  of  six,  for  at  least 

1  "Cruise  and  Combats  of  the  Alabama''  by  her  Executive  Officer,  John 
Mackintosh  Kell.— "  Century  War  Book,"  vol.  iv.,  p.  603. 


BANKS  IN  COMMAND.  59 

twice  the  necessary  time  to  the  perils  of  the  sea,  in 
creased  by  having  to  follow  an  inshore  track  at  this 
inclement  season  ;  it  would  not  only  have  introduced 
chances  of  detention  and  risks  of  collision  and  of 
separation,  but  the  peril  from  the  Alabama  would 
have  been  augmented  in  far  greater  degree  than  the 
security  afforded  by  any  naval  force  the  government 
could  just  then  spare.  Therefore,  the  slow  ships 
were  loaded  and  sent  off  first  and  the  faster  ones 
kept  back  to  the  last ;  then,  each  making  the  best  of 
its  way  to  Ship  Island,  nearly  all  came  in  together. 
Thus,  when  the  North  Star,  bearing  the  flag  of  the 
commanding  general  and  sailing  from  New  York  on 
the  4th  of  December,  arrived  in  the  early  morning  of 
the  1 3th  at  Ship  Island,  nearly  the  whole  fleet  lay  at 
anchor  or  in  the  offing;  and  as  soon  as  a  hasty 
inspection  could  be  completed  and  fresh  orders  given, 
the  expedition  got  under  way  for  New  Orleans.  The 
larger  vessels,  however,  like  the  Atlantic,  Baltic,  and 
Ericsson  being  unable  to  cross  the  bar,  lay  at  anchor 
at  Ship  Island  until  they  could  be  lightened. 

Truly  grand  as  was  the  spectacle  afforded  by  the 
black  hulls  and  white  sails  of  this  great  concourse 
of  ships  at  anchor,  in  the  broad  roadstead,  yet  a 
grander  sight  still  was  reserved  for  the  next  day,  a 
lovely  Sunday,  as  all  these  steamers  in  line  ahead, 
the  North  Star  leading,  flags  flying,  bands  playing, 
the  decks  blue  with  the  soldiers  of  the  Union,  majesti 
cally  made  their  way  up  the  Mississippi.  Most  of 
those  on  board  looked  for  the  first  time,  with  mingled 
emotions,  over  the  pleasant  lowlands  of  Louisiana,  and 
all  were  amused  at  the  mad  antics  of  the  pageant- 
loving  negroes,  crowding  and  capering  on  the  levee  as 
plantation  after  plantation  was  passed.  So  closely 


60  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

had  the  secret  been  kept  that,  until  the  transports 
got  under  way  from  Ship  Island  for  the  passes, 
probably  not  more  than  three  or  four  officers,  if  so 
many,  of  all  the  force  really  knew  its  destination. 
Nor  was  it  until  the  two  generals  met  at  New  Or 
leans  that  Butler  learned  that  Banks  was  to  relieve 
him. 

On  the  1 5th  of  December  Banks  took  the  com 
mand  of  the  Department  of  the  Gulf,  although  the 
formal  orders  were  not  issued  till  the  i7th.  The 
officers  of  the  department,  as  well  as  of  the  personal 
staff  of  General  Butler,  were  relieved  from  duty  and 
permitted  to  accompany  him  to  the  North.  The  new 
staff  of  the  department  included  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Richard  B.  Irwin,  Assistant  Adjutant-General ;  Lieu 
tenant-Colonel  William  S.  Abert,  Assistant  Inspector- 
General  ;  Major  G.  Norman  Lieber,  Judge-Advocate  ; 
Colonel  Samuel  B.  Holabird,  Chief  Quartermaster ; 
Colonel  Edward  G.  Beckwith,  Chief  Commissary  of 
Subsistence  ;  Surgeon  Richard  H.  Alexander,  Medi 
cal  Director  ;  Major  David  C.  Houston,  Chief 
Engineer ;  Captain  Henry  L.  Abbot,  Chief  of  To 
pographical  Engineers  ;  First-Lieutenant  Richard  M. 
Hill,  Chief  of  Ordnance  ;  Captain  Richard  Arnold, 
Chief  of  Artillery  ;  Captain  William  W.  Rowley, 
Chief  Signal  Officer. 

Banks's  orders  from  the  government  were  to  go  up 
the  Mississippi  and  open  the  river,  in  co-operation 
with  McClernand's  expedition  against  Vicksburg. 
"  As  the  ranking  general  of  the  Southwest,"  Hal- 
leek's  orders  proceeded,  "you  are  authorized  to 
assume  control  of  any  military  forces  from  the  upper 
Mississippi  which  may  come  within  your  command. 
The  line  of  the  division  between  your  department 


BANKS  IN  COMMAND.  61 

and  that  of  Major-General  Grant  is,  therefore,  left 
undecided  for  the  present,  and  you  will  exercise  su 
perior  authority  as  far  north  as  you  may  ascend  the 
river.  The  President  regards  the  opening  of  the 
Mississippi  river  as  the  first  and  most  important  of 
all  our  military  and  naval  operations,  and  it  is  hoped 
that  you  will  not  lose  a  moment  in  accomplishing  it." 

Immediately  on  assuming  command  Banks  ordered 
Grover  to  take  all  the  troops  that  were  in  condition 
for  service  at  once  to  Baton  Rouge,  under  the  protec 
tion  of  the  fleet,  and  there  disembark  and  go  into 
camp.  Augur  was  specially  charged  with  the  arrange 
ments  for  the  despatch  of  the  troops  from  New  Orleans. 
Before  starting  they  were  carefully  inspected,  and  all 
that  were  found  to  be  affected  with  disease  of  a  con 
tagious  or  infectious  character  were  sent  ashore  and 
isolated. 

On  the  morning  of  the  i6th  the  advance  of  Gro- 
ver's  expedition  got  under  way,  under  convoy  of  a 
detachment  of  Farragut's  fleet,  led  by  Alden  in  the 
Richmond.  Grover  took  with  him  about  4,500  men, 
but  when  all  were  assembled  at  Baton  Rouge  there 
were  twelve  regiments,  three  batteries,  and  two  troops 
of  cavalry.  The  Confederates,  who  were  in  very  small 
force,  promptly  evacuated  Baton  Rouge,  and  Grover 
landed  and  occupied  the  place  on  the  1 7th  of  Decem 
ber.  After  sending  off  the  last  of  the  troops,  Augur 
went  up  and  took  command.  The  lines  constructed 
by  Paine  in  August  were  occupied  and  strengthened, 
and  all  arrangements  promptly  made  for  their  defence 
in  view  of  an  attack,  such  as  might  not  unnaturally  be 
looked  for  from  Port  Hudson,  whose  garrison  then 
numbered  more  than  12,000  effectives.  The  two 
places  are  but  a  long  day's  march  apart.  Since  the 


62  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

occupation  in  August,  the  Confederate  forces  at  Port 
Hudson  had  been  commanded  by  Brigadier-General 
William  N.  R.  Beall.  On  the  28th  of  December,  how 
ever,  he  was  relieved  by  Major-General  Frank  Gard 
ner,  who  retained  the  command  thenceforward  until 
the  end.  While  the  war  lasted,  Baton  Rouge  con 
tinued  to  be  held  by  the  Union  forces  without  oppo 
sition  or  even  serious  menace. 

An  attempt  to  occupy  Galveston  was  less  fortunate. 
This  movement  was  ordered  by  Banks  a  few  days 
after  his  arrival  at  New  Orleans,  apparently  under  the 
pressure  of  continued  importunity  from  Andrew  J. 
Hamilton,  and  in  furtherance  of  the  policy  that  had 
led  the  government  to  send  him  with  the  expedition, 
nominally  as  a  brigadier-general,  but  under  a  special 
commission  from  the  President  that  named  him  as 
military  governor  of  Texas.  On  the  2ist  of  Decem 
ber,  three  companies,  D,  G,  and  I,  of  the  42d  Massa 
chusetts,  under  Colonel  Isaac  S.  Burrell,  were  sent 
from  New  Orleans  without  disembarking  from  the 
little  Saxon,  on  which  they  had  made  the  journey  from 
New  York.  With  them  went  Holcomb's  2d  Vermont 
battery,  leaving  their  horses  to  folloAV  ten  days  later 
on  the  Cambria,  with  the  horses  and  men  of  troops 
A  and  B  of  the  Texas  cavalry.  Protected  by  the  flotilla 
under  Commander  W.  B.  Renshaw,  comprising  his 
own  vessel,  the  Westfield,  the  gunboats  Harriet  Lane, 
Commander  J.  M.  Wainwright ;  Clifton,  Commander 
Richard  L.  Law  ;  Owasco,  Lieutenant  Henry  Wilson; 
and  Sachem,  Acting-Master  Amos  Johnson  ;  and  the 
schooner  Corypheus,  Acting-Master  Spears,  Burrell 
landed  unopposed  at  Kuhn's  Wharf  on  the  24th,  and 
took  nominal  possession  of  the  town  in  accordance 
with  his  instructions.  These  were  indeed  rather 


BANKS  IN  COMMAND.  63 

vague,  as  befitted  the  shadowy  nature  of  the  objects 
to  be  accomplished.  "  The  situation  of  the  people  of 
Galveston,"  wrote  General  Banks,  "makes  it  expedi 
ent  to  send  a  small  force  there  for  the  purpose  of 
their  protection,  and  also  to  afford  such  facilities  as 
may  be  possible  for  recruiting"  soldiers  for  the  military 
service  of  the  United  States."  Burrell  was  cautioned 
not  to  involve  himself  in  such  difficulty  as  to  endan 
ger  the  safety  of  his  command,  and  it  was  rather 
broadly  hinted  that  he  was  not  to  take  orders  from 
General  Hamilton.  In  reality,  Burrell's  small  force 
occupied  only  the  long  wharf,  protected  by  barricades 
at  the  shore  end,  and  seaward  by  the  thirty-two  guns 
of  the  fleet,  lying  at  anchor  within  300  yards. 

Magruder,  who  had  been  barely  a  month  in  com 
mand  of  the  Confederate  forces  in  Texas,  had  given 
his  first  attention  to  the  defenceless  condition  of  the 
coast,  menaced  as  it  was  by  the  blockading  fleet,  and 
thus  it  happened  that  Burrell's  three  companies,  per 
forming  their  maiden  service  on  picket  between  wind 
and  water,  found  themselves  confronted  by  the  two 
brigades  of  Scurry  and  Sibley,  Cook's  regiment  of 
heavy  artillery,  and  Wilson's  light  battery,  with  twenty- 
eight  guns,  and  two  armed  steamboats,  having  their 
vulnerable  parts  protected  by  cotton  bales. 

Long  before  dawn  on  the  ist  of  January,  1863, 
under  cover  of  a  heavy  artillery  fire,  the  position  of 
the  42d  Massachusetts  was  assaulted  by  two  storm 
ing  parties  of  300  and  500  men  respectively,  led  by 
Colonels  Green,  Bagby,  and  Cook,  the  remainder  of 
the  troops  being  formed  under  Scurry  in  support.  A 
brisk  fight  followed,  but  the  defenders  had  the  con 
centrated  fire  of  the  fleet  to  protect  them  ;  the  scal 
ing  ladders  proved  too  short  to  reach  the  wharf,  and 


64  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

as  day  began  to  break,  the  baffled  assailants  were 
about  to  draw  off,  when,  suddenly,  the  Confederate 
gunboats  appeared  on  the  scene  and  in  a  few  moments 
turned  the  defeat  into  a  signal  victory.  The  Nep 
tune  was  disabled  and  sunk  by  the  Plarriet  Lane,  the 
Harriet  Lane  was  boarded  and  captured  by  the  Bayoii 
City,  the  Westfield  ran  aground  and  was  blown  up  by 
her  gallant  commander,  and  soon  the  white  flag 
floated  from  the  masts  of  all  the  Union  fleet.  Wain- 
wright  and  Wilson  had  been  killed  ;  Renshaw,  with 
his  executive  officer,  Zimmermann,  and  his  chief  en 
gineer,  Green,  had  perished  with  the  ship.  The  sur 
vivors  were  given  three  hours  to  consider  terms. 

When  Burrell  saw  the  flag  of  truce  from  the  fleet, 
he  too  showed  the  white  flag  and  surrendered  to  the 
commander  of  the  Confederate  troops.  The  Con 
federates  ceased  firing  on  him  as  soon  as  they  per 
ceived  his  signal,  but  the  navy,  observing  that  the  fire 
on  shore  went  on  for  some  time,  notwithstanding  the 
naval  truce,  thought  it  had  been  violated  ;  accord 
ingly  the  Clifton,  Owasco,  Sachem,  and  Corypheus  put 
to  sea,  preceded  by  the  army  transport  steamers  Saxon 
and  Mary  A.  Boardman.  On  the  latter  vessel  were 
the  military  governor  of  Texas,  with  his  staff,  and  the 
men  and  guns  of  Holcomb's  battery. 

The  Confederates  lost  26  killed  and  1 17  wounded  ; 
the  Union  troops  5  killed  and  15  wounded,  and  all 
the  survivors  (probably  about  250  in  number)  were 
made  prisoners  save  the  adjutant,  Lieutenant  Charles 
A.  Davis,  who  had  been  sent  off  to  communicate  with 
the  fleet.  The  navy  lost  29  killed,  31  wounded,  and 
92  captured.  So  ended  this  inauspicious  New  Year's 
day. 

The  transports  made  the  best  of  their  way  to  New 


BANKS  IN  COMMAND.  65 

Orleans  with  the  news.  The  Cambria,  with  the 
Texas  cavalry  and  the  horses  of  the  2d  Vermont 
battery,  arrived  in  the  offing  on  the  evening  of  the 
2d  of  January.  For  two  days  a  strong  wind  and  high 
sea  rendered  fruitless  all  efforts  to  communicate  with 
the  shore  ;  then  learning  the  truth,  the  troops  at  once 
returned  to  New  Orleans. 

Orders  had  been  left  with  the  guard  ship  at  Pilot 
Town  to  send  the  transport  steamers,  Charles  Osgood 
and  Shetucket,  with  the  remainder  of  the  42 d,  directly 
to  Galveston.  It  was  now  necessary  to  change  these 
orders,  and  to  do  it  promptly.  The  bad  news  reached 
headquarters  early  in  the  afternoon  of  the  3d  Janu 
ary  :  "  Stop  every  thing  going  to  Galveston,"  was  at 
once  telegraphed  to  the  Pass. 


CHAPTER   VI. 
ORGANIZING   THE   CORPS. 

MEANWHILE  the  new  troops  continued  to  come 
from  New  York,  although  it  was  not  until  the  nth 
of  February  that  the  last  detachments  landed.  The 
work  of  organizing  the  whole  available  force  of  the 
department  for  the  task  before  it  was  pursued  with 
vigor.  In  order  to  form  the  moving  column,  as  well 
as  for  the  purposes  of  administration,  so  that  the  one 
might  not  interfere  with  the  other,  the  main  body  of 
troops  was  composed  of  four  divisions  of  three  bri 
gades  each.  The  garrisons  of  the  defences  and  the 
permanent  details  for  guard  and  provost  duty  were 
kept  separate.  While  this  was  in  progress  orders 
came  from  the  War  Office  dated  the  5th  of  January, 
1863,  by  which  all  the  forces  in  the  Department  of 
the  Gulf  were  designated  as  the  Nineteenth  Army 
Corps,  to  take  effect  December  14,  1862,  and  Banks 
was  named  by  the  President  as  the  corps  com 
mander. 

To  Augur  was  assigned  the  First  division,  to  Sher 
man  the  Second,  to  Emory  the  Third,  and  to  Grover 
the  Fourth.  Weitzel,  retaining  his  old  brigade,  be 
came  the  second  in  command  in  Augur's  division. 
In  making  up  the  brigades  the  regiments  were  so 
selected  and  combined  as  to  mingle  the  veterans 

66 


ORGANIZING  THE  CORPS.  67 

with  the  raw  levies,  and  to  furnish,  in  right  of  senior 
ity,  the  more  capable  and  experienced  of  the  colonels 
as  brigade  commanders.  Andrews,  who  had  been 
left  in  New  York  to  bring  up  the  rear  of  the  expedi 
tion,  became  Chief-of-Staff  on  the  6th  of  March,  and 
Bowen  was  made  Provost- Marshal  General. 

To  each  division  three  batteries  of  artillery  were 
given,  including  at  least  one  battery  belonging  to 
the  regular  army,  thus  furnishing,  except  for  the 
second  division,  an  experienced  regular  officer  as 
chief  of  artillery  of  the  division.  The  cavalry  was 
kept,  for  the  most  part,  unattached,  mainly  serving 
in  La  Fourche,  at  Baton  Rouge,  and  with  the  moving 
column.  The  2ist  Indiana,  changed  into  the  ist 
Indiana  heavy  artillery,  was  told  off  to  man  the 
siege  train,  for  which  duty  it  was  admirably  suited. 
When  all  had  joined,  the  whole  force  available  for 
active  operations  that  should  not  uncover  New 
Orleans  was  about  25,000.  Two  thirds,  however, 
were  new  levies,  and  of  these  half  were  nine  months' 
men.  Some  were  armed  with  guns  that  refused 
to  go  off.  Others  did  not  know  the  simplest  evo 
lutions.  In  one  instance,  afterwards  handsomely 
redeemed,  the  colonel,  having  to  disembark  his  men, 
could  think  of  no  way  save  by  the  novel  command, 
"  Break  ranks,  boys,  and  get  ashore  the  best  way  you 
can."  The  cavalry,  except  the  six  old  companies, 
was  poor  and  quite  insufficient  in  numbers.  Of  land 
and  water  transportation,  both  indispensable  to  any 
possible  operation,  there  was  barely  enough  for  the 
movement  of  a  single  division.  In  Washington, 
Banks  had  been  led  to  expect  that  he  might  count  on 
the  depots  or  the  country  for  all  the  material  required 
for  moving  his  army ;  yet  Butler  found  New  Orleans 


68  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

on  the  brink  of  starvation  ;  the  people  had  now  to 
be  fed,  as  well  as  the  army,  and  the  provisions  that 
formerly  came  from  the  West  by  the  great  river  had 
now  to  find  their  way  from  the  North  by  the  Atlantic 
and  the  Gulf.  The  depots  were  calculated,  and 
barely  sufficed,  for  the  old  force  of  the  department, 
while  the  country  could  furnish  very  little  at  best, 
and  nothing  at  all  until  it  should  be  occupied. 

Again,  until  he  reached  his  post,  Banks  was  not 
informed  that  the  Confederates  were  in  force  any 
where  on  the  river  save  Vicksburg,  yet,  in  fact,  Port 
Hudson,  250  miles  below  Vicksburg  and  135  miles 
above  New  Orleans,  was  found  strongly  intrenched 
with  twenty-nine  heavy  guns  in  position  and  garri 
soned  by  12,000  men.  Long  before  Banks  could 
have  assembled  and  set  in  motion  a  force  sufficient 
to  cope  with  this  enemy  behind  earthworks,  the 
12,000  became  16,000.  Moreover,  Banks  was  not  in 
communication  either  with  Grant  or  with  McClernand  ; 
he  knew  next  to  nothing  of  the  operations,  the  move 
ments,  or  the  plans  of  either ;  he  had  not  the  least 
idea  when  the  expedition  would  be  ready  to  move 
from  Memphis ;  he  was  even  uncertain  who  the 
commander  of  the  Northern  column  was  to  be.  On 
their  part,  not  only  were  Grant,  the  department  com 
mander  ;  McClernand,  the  designated  commander  of 
the  Vicksburg  expedition  ;  and  Sherman,  its  actual 
commander,  alike  ignorant  of  every  thing  pertaining 
to  the  movements  of  the  column  from  the  Gulf,  but, 
at  the  most  critical  period  of  the  campaign,  not  one 
of  the  three  was  in  communication  with  either  of  the 
others.  Under  these  conditions,  all  concert  between 
the  co-operating  forces  was  rendered  impossible  from 
the  start,  and  the  expectations  of  the  government 


ORGANIZING  THE  CORPS.  69 

that  Banks  would  go  against  Vicksburg  immediately 
on  landing  in  Louisiana  were  doomed  to  sharp  and 
sudden,  yet  inevitable,  disappointment. 

Grant,  believing  himself  free  to  dispose  of  McCler- 
nand's  new  levies,  had  projected  a  combined  move 
ment  by  his  own  forces,  marching  by  Grand  Junction, 
and  Sherman's,  moving  by  water  from  Memphis,  on 
the  front  and  rear  of  Vicksburg. 

Sherman  set  out  from  Memphis  on  the  2Oth  of 
December  in  complete  ignorance  of  Halleck's  tele 
gram  of  the  1 8th,  conveying  the  President's  positive 
order  that  McClernand  was  to  command  the  expedi 
tion.  Forrest  cut  the  wires  on  the  morning  of  the 
1 9th  just  in  time  to  intercept  this  telegram,  as  well 
as  its  counterpart,  addressed  to  McClernand  at 
Springfield,  Illinois.  On  the  29th  of  December, 
Sherman  met  with  the  bloody  repulse  of  Chickasaw 
Bluffs.  On  the  2d  of  January  he  returned  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Yazoo,  and  there  found  McClernand 
armed  with  the  bowstring  and  the  baton. 

Where  was  Grant  ?  While  his  main  body  was  still 
at  Oxford,  in  march  to  the  Yallabusha,  Forrest,  the 
ubiquitous,  irrepressible  Forrest,  struck  his  line  of 
communications,  and,  on  the  2Oth  of  December,  at 
the  instant  when  Sherman  was  giving  the  signal  to  get 
under  way  from  Memphis,  Van  Dorn  was  receiving  the 
surrender  of  Holly  Springs  and  the  keys  of  Grant's 
depots.  There  seemed  nothing  for  it  but  to  fall  back 
on  Memphis  or  starve.  Of  this  state  of  affairs  Grant 
sent  word  to  Sherman  on  the  2oth.  Eleven  days 
later  the  despatch  was  telegraphed  to  Sherman  by 
McClernand  ;  nor  was  it  until  the  8th  of  January  that 
Grant,  at  Holly  Springs,  learned  from  Washington 
the  bad  news  from  Sherman,  then  ten  days  old.  As 


70  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

if  to  complete  a  very  cat's-cradle  of  cross-purposes, 
Washington  had  heard  of  it  only  through  the  Rich 
mond  newspapers. 

The  collapse  of  the  northern  column,  coupled  with 
the  Confederate  occupation  of  Port  Hudson,  had 
completely  changed  the  nature  of  the  problem  con 
fided  to  Banks  for  solution.  If  he  was  to  execute 
the  letter  of  his  instructions  at  all,  he  had  now  to 
choose  between  three  courses,  each  involving  an  im 
possibility  :  to  carry  by  assault  a  strong  line  of  works, 
three  miles  long,  defended  by  16,000  good  troops  ; 
to  lay  siege  to  the  place,  with  the  certainty  that  it 
would  be  relieved  from  Mississippi,  and  with  the 
reasonable  prospect  of  losing  at  least  his  siege  train 
in  the  venture  ;  to  leave  Port  Hudson  in  his  rear  and 
go  against  Vicksburg,  upon  the  supposition,  in  the 
last  degree  improbable,  that  he  might  find  Grant,  or 
McClernand,  or  Sherman  there  to  meet  him  and 
furnish  him  with  food  and  ammunition.  This  last 
alternative  appears  to  have  been  the  one  towards 
which  the  government  leaned,  as  far  as  its  intentions 
can  be  gathered,  yet  Banks  could  only  have  accepted 
it  by  sacrificing  his  communications,  putting  New 
Orleans  in  imminent  peril,  and  creating  irreparable 
and  almost  inevitable  disaster  as  the  price  of  a  remote 
chance  of  achieving  a  great  success.  In  point  of  fact, 
in  the  early  days  of  January,  McClernand,  accompanied 
by  Sherman  as  a  corps  commander,  was  moving  tow 
ard  the  White  River  and  the  brilliant  adventure  of 
Arkansas  Post.  After  capturing  this  place  on  the 
iith,  McClernand  meant  to  go  straight  to  Little 
Rock,  but  Grant  rose  to  the  occasion  and  peremp 
torily  recalled  the  troops  to  Milliken's  Bend.  "  This 
wild-goose  chase,"  as  Grant  not  inaptly  termed  it, 


ORGANIZING  THE  CORPS.  71 

cost  McClernand  his  new-fledged  honors  as  com 
mander  of  "The  Army  of  the  Mississippi,"  and 
brought  him  to  Sherman's  side  as  a  commander  of 
one  of  his  own  corps  ;  a  bitter  draught  of  the  same 
medicine  he  had  so  recently  administered  to  Sher 
man. 

Had  Banks  marched  straight  to  Vicksburg  at  the 
same  time  that  McClernand  was  moving  on  Little 
Rock,  with  Grant  cut  off  somewhere  in  northern 
Mississippi,  the  Confederate  commanders  must  have 
been  dull  and  slow  indeed  had  they  failed  to  seize  with 
promptitude  so  rare  an  opportunity  for  resuming,  at 
a  sweep,  the  complete  mastery  of  the  river,  ruining 
their  adversary's  campaign,  and  eliminating  100,000 
of  his  soldiers. 

Thus,  almost  at  the  first  step,  the  two  great  expe 
ditions  were  brought  to  a  standstill.  They  could 
neither  act  together  nor  advance  separately.  The 
generals  began  to  look  about  them  for  a  new  way. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

MORE  WAYS  THAN  ONE. 

SINCE  Port  Hudson  could  neither  be  successfully 
attacked  nor  safely  disregarded,  the  problem  now 
presented  to  Banks  was  to  find  a  way  around  the 
obstacle  without  sacrificing  or  putting  in  peril  his 
communications.  The  Atchafalaya  was  the  key  to 
the  puzzle,  and  to  that  quarter  attention  was  early 
directed,  yet  for  a  long  time  the  difficulties  encoun 
tered  in  finding  away  to  the  Atchafalaya  seemed  well- 
nigh  insuperable.  The  rising  waters  were  expected 
to  render  the  largest  of  the  bayous  that  connect  the 
Atchafalaya  and  the  Mississippi  navigable  for  steam 
boats  of  small  size  and  light  draught.  Of  these  there 
were,  indeed,  but  few,  so  that  the  work  of  transport 
ing  troops  from  the  one  line  to  the  other  must  have 
been,  at  the  best,  slow  and  tedious,  yet,  once  accom 
plished,  the  army  would  have  found  itself,  with  the 
help  of  the  navy,  above  and  beyond  Port  Hudson, 
with  a  sufficient  line  of  communications  open  to  the 
rear,  and  the  Mississippi  and  the  Red  River  closed 
against  the  enemy. 

The  Confederates  had  in  Western  Louisiana,  near 
the  mouth  of  the  Teche,  a  small  division  of  Taylor's 
troops,  about  4,500  strong,  with  one  gunboat.  At 
first  Banks  thought  to  leave  a  brigade,  with  two  or 
three  light-draught  gunboats,  on  Berwick  Bay  to 

72 


MORE  WA  YS  THAN  ONE.  73 

observe  Taylor's  force,  and  then  to  disregard  it  as  a 
factor  in  the  subsequent  movements.  This,  while 
the  Atchafalaya  was  high  and  the  eastern  lowlands 
of  the  Attakapas  widely  overflowed,  might  have  been 
safely  done,  but  all  these  plans  were  destined  to  be 
essentially  modified  by  a  series  of  unexpected  events 
in  widely  different  quarters. 

In  the  second  week  of  January,  Weitzel  heard  that 
Taylor  meditated  an  attack  on  the  outlying  force  at 
Berwick  Bay,  and  that  with  this  view  the  armament 
of  the  gunboat  Cotton  was  being  largely  augmented. 
Weitzel  resolved  to  strike  the  first  blow.  For  this 
purpose  he  concentrated  his  whole  force  of  seven 
regiments,  including  four  of  his  own  brigade,  be 
sides  the  2 ist  Indiana,  6th  Michigan,  and  23d  Con 
necticut,  with  Carruth's  and  Thompson's  batteries, 
four  pieces  of  Bainbridge's  battery,  Barrett's  Troop  B 
of  the  Louisiana  cavalry,  and  Company  B  of  the  8th 
New  Hampshire,  commanded  by  Lieutenant  Charles 
H.  Camp.  The  ist  Louisiana  held  Donaldsonville 
and  the  ii4th  New  York  guarded  the  railway.  To 
open  the  way,  as  well  as  to  meet  the  fire  of  the 
Cotton,  there  were  four  gunboats  of  the  light-draught 
flotilla  under  Buchanan — the  flagship  Calhoun,  Es- 
trella,  Kinsman,  and  Diana. 

At  three  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  i3th  of  Jan 
uary  the  crossing  of  Berwick  Bay  began  ;  by  half-past 
ten  the  gunboats  had  completed  the  ferriage  of  the 
cavalry  and  artillery  ;  the  infantry  following  landed  at 
Pattersonville  ;  then  the  whole  force  formed  in  line 
and,  moving  forward  in  the  afternoon  to  the  junction 
of  the  Teche  with  the  Atchafalaya,  went  into  bivouac. 
The  next  morning  began  the  ascent  of  the  Teche. 
The  8th  Vermont  was  thrown  over  to  the  east  or  left 


74  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

bank  of  the  bayou,  while  the  main  line  moved  for 
ward  on  the  west  bank  to  attack  the  Cotton,  now  in 
plain  sight.  The  gunboats  led  the  movement,  neces 
sarily  in  line  ahead,  owing  to  the  narrowness  of  the 
bayou.  On  either  bank  Weitzel's  line  of  battle,  with 
skirmishers  thrown  well  forward,  was  preceded  by 
sixty  volunteers  from  the  8th  Vermont  and  the  same 
number  from  the  75th  New  York,  whose  orders  were 
to  move  directly  up  to  the  Cotton  and  pick  off  her 
gunners.  The  line  of  battle  moved  forward  steadily 
with  the  column  of  gunboats.  Between  the  Union 
gunboats  and  the  Cotton  the  bayou  had  been  ob 
structed  so  as  to  prevent  any  hostile  vessel  from 
ascending  the  stream  beyond  that  point.  A  brisk 
fight  followed.  Under  cover  of  the  guns  of  the  navy 
and  of  the  raking  and  broadside  fire  of  the  batteries, 
the  8th  Vermont  and  75th  New  York  first  drove  off 
the  land  supports  and  then  moving  swiftly  on  the 
Cotton  silenced  her.  In  this  advance  the  Vermonters 
captured  one  lieutenant  and  forty-one  men.  The 
Cotton  retreated  out  of  range.  That  night  her  crew 
applied  the  match  and  let  her  swing  across  the  bayou 
to  serve  as  an  additional  obstruction.  In  a  few  mo 
ments  she  was  completely  destroyed. 

Then,  having  thus  easily  gained  his  object,  Weitzel 
returned  to  La  Fourche.  His  losses  in  the  movement 
were  i  officer  and  5  men  killed,  and  2  officers  and  25 
men  wounded.  Lieutenant  James  E.  Whiteside,  of 
the  75th  New  York,  who  had  volunteered  to  lead 
the  sharpshooters  on  the  right  bank,  was  killed  close 
to  the  Cotton,  in  the  act  of  ordering  the  crew  to  haul 
down  her  flag.  Among  the  killed,  also,  was  the  gal 
lant  Buchanan — a  serious  loss,  not  less  to  the  army 
than  to  the  navy. 


MORE  WA  YS  THAN  ONE.  75 

During  a  lull  in  the  naval  operations  above  Vicks- 
burg,  occasioned  by  the  want  of  coal,  eleven  steam 
boats  that  had  been  in  use  by  the  Confederates  on 
the  Mississippi  between  Vicksburg  and  Port  Hudson, 
took  advantage  of  Porter's  absence  to  slip  up  the 
Yazoo  for  supplies.  There  Porter's  return  caught 
them  as  in  a  trap. 

Toward  the  end  of  January  Grant  landed  on  the 
long  neck  opposite  Vicksburg,  and  once  more  set  to 
work  on  the  canal.  Porter  now  determined  to  let  a 
detachment  of  his  fleet  run  the  gauntlet  of  the  bat 
teries  of  Vicksburg  for  the  purpose  of  destroying 
every  thing  the  Confederates  had  afloat  below  the 
town.  The  ram  Queen  of  the  West,  Colonel  Charles 
R.  Ellet,  protected  by  two  tiers  of  cotton  bales,  was 
told  off  to  lead  the  adventure.  On  the  2d  of  Feb 
ruary  she  performed  the  feat ;  then  passing  on  down 
the  river,  on  the  3d,  ran  fifteen  miles  below  the  mouth 
of  the  Red  River,  and  the  same  distance  up  that 
stream,  took  and  burned  three  Confederate  supply 
steamboats,  and  got  safely  back  to  Vicksburg  on  the 
5th.  Porter  was  naturally  jubilant,  for,  as  it  seemed, 
the  mastery  of  the  great  river  had  been  the  swift  re 
ward  of  his  enterprise. 

A  week  later  Ellet  again  ran  down  the  Missis 
sippi  and  up  the  Red,  burning  and  destroying  until, 
pushing  his  success  too  far,  he  found  himself  under  the 
guns  of  Fort  De  Russy.  A  few  shots  sufficed  to 
disable  the  Queen  of  the  West,  which  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  Confederates,  while  Ellet  and  his  men 
escaped  in  one  of  their  captures. 

Below  Natchez  they  met  the  Indianola  coming 
down  the  river,  after  safely  passing  Vicksburg.  On 
the  24th  the  Confederate  gunboat  Webb,  and  the  ram 


76  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

Queen  of  the  West,  now  also  flying  the  Confederate 
colors,  came  after  the  Indianola,  attacked  her  off  Pal 
myra  Island,  and  sank  her.  Thus,  as  suddenly  as  it  had 
gone  from  them,  the  control  of  the  long  reach  of  the 
Mississippi  once  more  passed  over  to  the  Confederates. 
At  this  news  Farragut  took  fire.  Between  him 
and  the  impudent  little  Confederate  flotilla,  whose  easy 
triumph  had  suddenly  laid  low  the  hopes  and  plans 
of  his  brother  admiral,  there  stood  nothing  save  the 
guns  of  Port  Hudson.  These  batteries  he  would 
pass,  and  for  the  fourth  time,  yet  not  the  last,  would 
look  the  miles  of  Confederate  cannon  in  the  mouth. 
Banks,  whose  movements  were  retarded  and  to  some 
extent  held  in  abeyance,  from  the  causes  already 
mentioned,  promptly  fell  in  with  the  Admiral's  plans, 
and  both  commanders  conferring  freely,  the  details 
were  soon  arranged. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

FARRAGUT  PASSES  PORT  HUDSON. 

WHILE  Farragut  was  putting  his  fleet  in  thorough 
order  for  this  adventure,  looking  after  all  needful 
arrangements  with  minute  personal  care,  Banks  con 
centrated  all  his  disposable  force  at  Baton  Rouge. 
By  the  7th  of  March,  leaving  T.  W.  Sherman  to  cover 
New  Orleans  and  Weitzel  to  hold  strongly  La 
Fourche,  Banks  had  a  marching  column,  composed  of 
Augur's,  Emory's,  and  Grover's  divisions,  15,000 
strong.  On  the  Qth  of  March  tents  were  struck,  to 
be  pitched  no  more  for  five  hard  months,  and  the 
next  morning  the  troops  were  ready,  but  repairs  de 
layed  the  fleet,  the  last  vessels  of  which  did  not 
reach  Baton  Rouge  until  about  the  I2th.  On  that 
day,  for  the  first  time,  Banks  reviewed  his  army,  on 
the  old  battle-ground,  in  the  presence  of  the  admiral, 
his  staff,  and  many  officers  of  the  fleet.  The  new 
regiments,  with  some  exceptions,  showed  plainly  the 
progress  already  attained  under  the  energetic  train 
ing  and  constant  work  of  their  officers.  The  degree 
of  instruction  and  care  then  apparent  forecast  the 
value  of  their  actual  service.  The  38th  Massachu 
setts  and  1 1 6th  New  York  were  specially  commended 
in  orders. 

To  hold  Baton  Rouge  about  3,000  men  were  de 
tached,  under  Chickering,  including  the  4-ist  Massa- 

77 


78  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

chusetts,  1 73d  New  York,  i75th  New  York,  ist  In 
diana  heavy  artillery,  3d  Louisiana  native  guards, 
Mack's  battery,  and  Troop  F  of  the  Rhode  Island 
cavalry. 

All  arrangements  being  concerted  for  the  passage 
of  the  batteries  on  the  evening  of  the  I4th  of  March, 
Grover  set  out  on  the  afternoon  of  the  i3th,  fol 
lowed,  at  daybreak  the  next  morning,  by  Emory, 
with  Augur  bringing  up  the  rear.  In  the  afternoon 
Grover  went  into  camp,  covering  the  intersection  of 
the  Bayou  Sara  road  and  the  road  that  leads  from  it 
toward  the  river.  Emory  formed  on  his  left,  cover 
ing  the  branches  of  this  road  that  lead  to  Springfield 
Landing  and  to  Ross  Landing,  his  main  body  support 
ing  the  centre  at  Alexander's  plantation.  Augur,  on 
the  right,  held  the  cross-road  that  leads  from  the 
Bayou  Sara  road  by  Alexander's  to  the  Clinton  road 
at  Vallandigham's.  At  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon 
the  signal  officers  opened  communication  from  Spring 
field  Landing  with  the  fleet  at  anchor  near  the  head  of 
Prophet  Island,  and  a  strong  detachment  was  posted 
near  the  landing  to  maintain  the  connection. 

As  the  Confederates  were  known  to  have  a  force 
of  about  1,200  cavalry  somewhere  between  Clinton 
and  Baton  Rouge,  strong  detachments  became  neces 
sary  to  observe  all  the  approaches  and  to  hold  the 
roads  and  bridges  in  the  rear  in  order  to  secure  the 
withdrawal  of  the  army  when  the  demonstration 
should  be  completed,  as  well  as  to  guard  the  opera 
tion  from  being  inopportunely  interrupted.  These 
dispositions  reduced  the  force  for  battle  to  about 
1 2,000. 

It  had  been  intended  to  concentrate  nearly  all  the 
artillery  near  the  river  in  the  vicinity  of  Ross  Land- 


FA  RRA  G  UT  PA  SSES  FOR  T  HUDSON.          79 

ing  in  such  a  manner  as  to  engage,  or  at  least  divide, 
the  attention  of  the  lower  batteries  of  Port  Hudson ; 
but  the  maps  were  even  more  imperfect  than  usual, 
and  when  a  reconnoissance,  naturally  retarded  by  the 
enemy's  advance  guard,  showed  that  the  road  by 
which  the  guns  were  to  have  gone  into  position  did 
not  exist,  the  daylight  was  already  waning.  A  broken 
bridge  also  caused  some  delay. 

At  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  Banks  received  a 
despatch  from  Farragut  announcing  an  important 
change  in  the  hour  fixed  for  the  movement  of  the 
fleet.  Instead  of  making  the  attempt  "  in  the  gray 
of  the  morning,"  as  had  been  the  admiral's  first  plan, 
he  now  meant  to  get  under  way  at  eight  o'clock  in 
the  evening.  When  darkness  fell,  therefore,  it  found 
the  troops  substantially  in  the  positions  already  de 
scribed,  yet  with  their  outposts  well  thrown  forward. 

About  ten  o'clock  the  fleet  weighed  anchor  and 
moved  up  the  river.  The  flagship  Hartford  took 
the  lead,  with  the  Albatross  lashed  to  her  port  side, 
next  the  Richmond  with  the  Genesee,  the  Monongahela 
with  the  Kineo,  and  last  the  side-wheeler  Mississippi 
alone.  The  Essex  and  Sachem  remained  at  anchor 
below,  with  the  mortar  boats,  to  cover  the  advance. 
An  hour  later  a  rocket  shot  up  from  the  bluff  and  in 
stantly  the  Confederate  batteries  opened  fire.  They 
were  soon  joined  by  long  lines  of  sharpshooters.  To 
avoid  the  shoal  that  makes  out  widely  from  the 
western  bank,  as  well  as  to  escape  the  worst  of  the 
enemy's  fire,  both  of  musketry  and  artillery,  the 
ships  hugged  closely  the  eastern  bluff;  so  closely, 
indeed,  that  the  yards  brushed  the  leaves  from  the 
overhanging  trees  and  the  voices  of  men  on  shore 
could  be  distinctly  heard  by  those  on  board.  Watch- 


8o  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

fires  were  lighted  by  the  Confederates  to  show  as 
well  the  ships  as  the  range  ;  yet  this  did  more  harm 
than  good,  since  the  smoke,  united  with  that  of  the 
guns  ashore  and  afloat  to  render  the  fleet  invisible. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  pilots  were  soon  unable  to 
see. 

The  Hartford,  meeting  the  swift  eddy  at  the  bend, 
where  the  current  describes  nearly  a  right  angle, 
narrowly  escaped  being  driven  ashore.  The  Richmond, 
following,  was  disabled  by  a  shot  through  her  engine- 
room  when  abreast  of  the  upper  battery  at  the  turn. 
The  Monongahelds  consort,  the  Kineo,  lost  the  use 
of  her  rudder,  and  the  Monongahela  herself  ran 
aground  on  the  spit ;  presently  the  Kineo,  drifting 
clear,  also  grounded,  but  was  soon  afloat  again,  and, 
with  her  assistance,  the  Monongahela  too  swung  free, 
after  nearly  a  half  hour  of  imminent  peril.  Then  the 
Kineo,  cast  loose  by  her  consort,  drifted  helplessly 
down  the  stream,  while  the  Monongahela  passed  up 
until  a  heated  bearing  brought  her  engines  to  a  stop 
and  she  too  drifted  with  the  current. 

Last  of  the  fleet,  the  Mississippi,  unseen  in  the 
smoke,  and  therefore  safe  enough  from  the  Con 
federate  guns,  yet  equally  unable  to  see  either  friend, 
foe,  or  landmark,  was  carried  by  the  current  hard  on 
the  spit ;  then,  after  a  half  hour  of  ineffectual  exertion, 
lying  alone  and  helpless  under  the  concentrated  aim 
of  the  Confederate  batteries,  she  was  abandoned  and 
set  on  fire  by  her  captain.  About  three  in  the  morn 
ing,  becoming  lighter,  as  the  fire  did  its  work,  she 
floated  free  and  drifted  down  the  stream  one  mass  of 
flames,  in  plain  view,  not  merely  of  the  fleet,  but  also 
of  the  army,  condemned  to  stand  to  arms  in  sight  and 
sound  of  the  distant  battle  and  now  to  look  on  idly 


LOUISIANA 


SHEET   III. 


FARRAGUT  PASSES  PORT  HUDSON.          81 

as,  with  a  mighty  flash  and  roar,  the  Mississippi 
cast  to  the  heavens  her  blazing  timbers,  amid  a 
myriad  of  bursting  shells,  in  one  mountain  of  flame  : 
then  black  silence. 

Thus,  when  at  last  the  gray  of  the  morning  came, 
the  Hartford  and  Albatross  rode  in  safety  above  Port 
Hudson,  while  the  Richmond,  Monongahela,  Genesee, 
and  Kineo,  all  battered  and  more  or  less  injured,  lay 
at  anchor  once  more  near  Prophet  Island,  and  the 
Mississippi  had  perished  in  a  blaze  of  glory. 

Narrowly  escaping  the  total  failure  of  his  plans  and 
the  destruction  of  his  fleet,  Farragut  had  so  far  suc 
ceeded  in  his  objects  that  henceforth  the  Confederates 
practically  lost  the  control  of  the  Mississippi  above 
Port  Hudson,  as  well  as  the  use  of  the  Red  River  as 
their  base  of  supplies.  Save  in  skiff-loads,  beef,  corn, 
and  salt  could  no  longer  be  safely  carried  across  the 
Mississippi,  and  the  high  road  from  Galveston  and 
Matamoras  was  closed  against  the  valuable  and  sorely 
needed  cargoes  brought  from  Europe  by  the  block 
ade  runners. 

As  for  the  army,  it  had  gained  some  facility  of 
movement,  some  knowledge  of  its  deficiencies,  and 
some  information  of  great  future  value  as  to  the 
topography  of  the  unknown  country  about  Port 
Hudson  ;  more  than  this  could  hardly  have  been  ex 
pected.  Indeed,  the  sole  object  of  the  presence  of  the 
army  was  defeated  by  the  movement  of  the  fleet  so 
many  hours  before  the  time  agreed  upon.  This 
object  was  to  make  a  diversion  that  might  attract 
the  enemy's  attention  and  thus  tend  to  reduce  the 
fire  of  musketry  on  the  exposed  decks  of  the  fleet, 
and  to  draw  off  or  hold  off  the  fire  of  the  field- 
pieces  that  might  otherwise  be  massed  on  the  river 

6 


82  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

front.  The  disparity  between  the  relative  strength 
of  Banks's  army  and  that  of  the  garrison  was  too  well 
known  to  justify  the  thought  of  an  actual  attack  upon 
the  works. 

Such,  however,  was  not  the  opinion  of  the  govern 
ment,  which  to  the  last  seems  to  have  taken  for 
granted  that  all  that  was  needed  to  insure  the  surren 
der  of  Port  Hudson  was  a  desire  to  attack  it.  Even 
after  the  surrender,  Halleck,  in  his  annual  report  for 
1863,  speaking  of  the  position  of  affairs  in  March, 
said  :  "  Had  our  land  forces  invested  Port  Hudson  at 
this  time,  it  could  have  been  easily  reduced,  as  its 
garrison  was  weak  .  .  .  but  the  strength  of  the 
place  was  not  then  known."  In  truth,  the  place  was 
never  so  strong,  before  or  after,  as  at  this  time ;  nor 
is  it  often  in  war  that  the  information  tallies  so  nearly 
with  the  fact.  The  effective  strength  of  the  garrison 
was  more  than  16,000.  Gardner's  monthly  report  ac 
counts  for  1,366  officers  and  14,921  men  present  for 
duty,  together  16,287,  out  °f  a  total  present  of  20,388. 
Besides  the  twenty-two  heavy  guns  in  position,  he  had 
thirteen  light  batteries. 

Morning  found  the  army  alone  and  in  a  bad 
position,  either  for  attack  or  defence.  Nothing  was 
to  be  gained  by  staying  there,  and  much  was  to  be 
risked.  As  soon,  therefore,  as  word  came  through 
the  ever-active  and  adventurous  signal-officers  that 
all  was  well  with  what  remained  of  the  fleet,  Banks 
once  more  took  up  the  line  of  march  for  Baton 
Rouge,  and  went  into  bivouac  in  great  discomfort 
on  the  soggy  borders  of  the  Bayou  Montesano, 
about  eight  miles  north  of  the  town. 

Meanwhile,  what  had  become  of  Farragut  ?  The 
last  seen  of  the  Hartford  and  Albatross  was  on  the 


FARRA  G UT  PA  SSES  FOR  T  HUDSON.          83 

morning  of  the  i5th  by  the  signal  officers  at  Spring 
field  Landing.  The  two  vessels  then  lay  at  anchor 
beyond  the  bend  above  Port  Hudson.  Several 
attempts  were  made  to  communicate  with  the  Admi 
ral  across  the  intervening  neck  of  lowland.  The  first 
was  on  the  i6th,  by  Parmele,  with  the  i74th  New 
York  and  a  squadron  of  the  2d  Rhode  Island  cavalry. 
Next,  on  the  i8th,  Banks,  eager  to  advance  the  effort, 
took  Dudley's  brigade,  two  sections  of  Rawles'  bat 
tery,  and  Magee's  troop,  and  joined  Parmele.  But 
for  a  time  these  efforts  accomplished  nothing,  since  it 
was  impossible  to  see  far  over  the  flat  and  wooded 
country  ;  and  the  Confederates  having  cut  the  great 
levee  at  M  organza,  the  whole  neighborhood  was  under 
water  and  the  bridges  gone.  Finally,  on  the  iQth, 
Colonel  Charles  J.  Paine  went  out  with  the  2d  Louis 
iana,  the  1 74th  New  York,  and  a  small  squad  of 
cavalry,  and  leaving  first  the  infantry  and  then  most 
of  the  troopers  behind,  and  riding  on  almost  alone, 
succeeded  in  crossing  the  bend  and  gained  the  levee 
at  the  head  of  the  old  channel  known  as  Fausse  River, 
about  three  miles  above  Port  Hudson.  There  he  had 
a  good  view  of  the  river,  yet  nothing  was  to  be  seen 
of  the  Hartford  and  Albatross.  Again,  on  the  24th, 
Dudley  sent  Magee  with  his  troop  to  Hermitage 
Landing.  Pushing  on  with  a  few  men,  Magee  got 
a  full  view  of  the  reach  above  Waterloo  for  five 
miles,  but  he  too  learned  nothing  of  the  fleet.  Far- 
ragut  had  in  fact  gone  up  the  river  on  the  I5th, 
after  vainly  attempting  to  exchange  signals  with  his 
ships  below  and  with  the  army,  and  was  now  near 
Vicksburg  in  communication  with  Admiral  Porter, 
engaged  in  concerting  plans  for  the  future.  Before 
getting  under  way  he  had  caused  three  guns  to  be 


84  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

fired  from  the  Hartford.  This  was  the  signal  agreed 
upon  with  Banks,  but  for  some  reason  it  was  either 
not  heard  or  not  reported. 

Just  before  separating  at  Baton  Rouge,  Banks  had 
handed  to  Farragut  a  letter  addressed  to  Grant,  to 
be  delivered  by  the  Admiral  in  the  event  of  success. 
This  letter,  the  first  direct  communication  between 
the  two  generals,  Grant  received  on  the  2Oth  of 
March,  and  from  it  derived  his  first  information  of 
the  actual  state  of  affairs  in  the  Department  of  the 
Gulf.  After  stating  his  position  and  force  Banks 
wound  up  by  saying  :  "  Should  the  Admiral  succeed 
in  his  attempt,  I  shall  try  to  open  communication 
with  him  on  the  other  side  of  the  river,  and,  in  that 
event,  trust  I  shall  hear  from  you  as  to  your  position 
and  movements,  and  especially  as  to  your  views  as  to 
the  most  efficient  mode  of  co-operation  upon  the  part 
of  the  forces  we  respectively  command." 

With  the  Hartford  and  Albatross  controlling  the 
reach  between  Port  Hudson  and  Vicksburg,  as  well 
as  the  mouth  of  the  Red  River  and  the  head  of  the 
Atchafalaya,  Banks  might  now  safely  disregard  the 
movements  of  the  Confederate  gunboats.  Accord 
ingly,  while  waiting  for  Grant's  answer,  he  turned  to 
the  execution  of  his  former  plan. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  TECHE. 

IN  effect,  this  plan  was  to  turn  Port  Hudson  by 
way  of  the  Atchafalaya.  For  the  original  conception, 
the  credit  must  be  given  to  Weitzel,  who  seems  in 
deed  to  have  formed  a  very  similar  scheme  when  he 
first  occupied  La  Fourche.  However,  his  force  was, 
at  that  time,  barely  sufficient  for  the  defence  of  the 
territory  confided  to  his  care.  Not  only  was  there 
then  no  particular  object  in  moving  beyond  the 
Atchafalaya,  but  any  advance  in  that  direction  would 
have  exposed  his  little  corps  to  disaster  on  account  of 
the  great  facilities  afforded  by  the  numberless  streams 
for  a  movement  by  detachments  of  the  enemy  into 
his  rear.  It  was  largely  to  prepare  for  an  advance 
into  Western  Louisiana,  as  well  as  to  defend  his  oc 
cupancy  of  La  Fourche,  that  Butler,  upon  Weitzel's 
suggestion,  had  created  the  gunboat  flotilla. 

Soon  after  Banks  took  the  command,  Weitzel,  who 
had  opinions  and  the  courage  to  enforce  them,  laid 
his  ideas  before  his  new  chief.  On  the  i8th  of 
January,  disturbed  by  hearing  that  Admiral  Farragut 
meant  to  take  one  of  the  army  gunboats,  recently 
transferred  to  the  navy,  away  from  Berwick  Bay, 
instead  of  sending  more,  Weitzel  expressed  himself 
strongly  in  a  despatch  to  headquarters. 

85 


86  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

"  With  such  a  naval  force  in  that  bay,  in  co-operation  with  a 
suitable  land  force,  the  only  true  campaign  in  this  section  could 
be  made.  Look  at  the  map.  Berwick  Bay  leads  into  Grand 
Lake,  Grand  Lake  into  the  Atchafalaya,  the  Atchafalaya  into 
Red  River.  Boats  drawing  not  more  than  four  or  five  feet  and 
in  the  force  I  mention  [10  or  12],  with  a  proper  land  force,  could 
clear  out  the  Atchafalaya,  Red  River,  and  Black  River.  All  com 
munications  from  Vicksburg  and  Port  Hudson  cross  this  line  in 
dicated  by  me.  By  taking  it  in  the  manner  I  propose,  Vicksburg 
and  Port  Hudson  would  be  a  cipher  to  the  rebels.  It  would  be  a 
campaign  that  100,000  men  could  not  so  easily  fight,  and  so  suc 
cessfully.  It  is  an  operation  to  which  the  taking  of  Galveston 
Island  is  a  cipher  and  the  capture  of  the  Mobile  Bay  forts  a 
nonentity." 

With  these  views  Banks  was  himself  in  accord,  yet 
not  in  their  entirety.  The  pressure  of  time  led  him 
to  desire  to  avoid  divergences  into  the  Teche  coun 
try.  If  it  were  possible,  he  wished  to  gain  the  Atch 
afalaya  by  some  route  at  once  speedier  and  more 
direct.  While  the  explorations  were  in  progress  to 
discover  such  a  route,  Weitzel  once  more  took  occa 
sion  to  urge  his  original  plan.  On  the  i5th  of  Feb 
ruary,  he  wrote  to  Augur,  his  division  commander : 

"  I  feel  it  a  duty  which  I  owe  you  and  my  country  to  address 
you  at  this  late  hour  in  the  night  on  the  present  proposed  move 
ment  on  Butte  a  la  Rose  and  the  Teche  country.  ...  In  all 
honesty  and  candor,  I  do  not  believe  the  present  plan  to  be  a 
proper  one.  .  .  .  Sibley's  Texan  brigade  is  somewhere  in  the 
Opelousas  country.  .  .  .  Mouton's  main  body  is  in  rear  of  in- 
trenchments  on  Madame  Meade's  plantation,  six  miles  below 
Centreville.  If  we  defeat  these  two  commands  we  form  a  junc 
tion  with  our  forces  near  Vicksburg.  By  pursuing  our  success  to 
Alexandria  we  may  capture  General  Mouton's  force,  and  with 
little  loss,  unless  it  form  a  junction  with  Sibley.  If  it  forms 
a  junction,  we  will  meet  them  near  Iberia  and  engage  them  in 
open  field,  and  with  a  proper  force  can  defeat  them.  General  Em 
ory's  whole  division  (moved  to  Brashear  City)  and  my  brigade  can 
do  this  work.  Let  the  light  transportation,  now  with  General 


THE  TECHE.  87 

Emory,  and  all  destined  for  and  collected  by  me  be  collected  at 
Brashear  City.  Let  two  of  the  brigades  be  moved  to  and  landed 
at  Indian  Bend,  while  the  other  two  are  crossed  and  attack  in 
front.  If  Mouton  escapes  (which  I  think,  if  properly  conducted, 
will  be  doubtful)  we  form  a  junction  at  Indian  Bend.  We  pro 
ceed  to  attack  and  with  much  superior  force,  because  I  do  not 
believe  Mouton  and  Sibley  united  will  exceed  6,000  men.  We 
can  defeat  them,  pursue  our  success  to  Alexandria  and  of  course 
get  Butte  a  la  Rose  ;  our  gunboats  to  facilitate  its  fall,  attacking 
it,  as  they  cannot  accompany  us  farther  up  than  Saint  Martin- 
ville.  I  believe  this  to  be  the  true  and  only  correct  plan  of  the 
campaign." 

These  views  were  unquestionably  sound  ;  they  were 
such  as  might  have  been  expected  of  an  officer  of 
Weitzel's  skill  and  experience  and  special  knowledge 
of  the  theatre  of  operations.  Supported  by  the  strong 
current  of  events,  they  were  now  to  be  carried  into 
effect. 

At  the  date  of  this  despatch,  Emory's  division  had 
been  for  several  weeks  near  the  head  of  the  Bayou 
Plaquemine,  with  headquarters  at  Indian  Village,  en 
deavoring  to  find  or  force  a  waterway  to  the  Atch- 
afalaya,  while  Weitzel  was  holding  his  brigade  in 
readiness  to  co-operate  by  a  simultaneous  movement 
against  Taylor  on  the  Teche.  Many  attempts  were 
made  by  Emory  to  carry  out  the  object  confided  to 
him,  yet  all  proved  failures.  Bayou  Sorrel,  Lake 
Chicot,  Grand  River,  and  the  Plaquemine  itself,  from 
both  ends  of  the  stream,  were  thoroughly  explored, 
but  only  to  find  the  bayous  choked  with  driftwood 
impossible  to  remove,  and  until  removed  rendering  the 
streams  impassable.  Two  of  these  drifts  in  Bayou 
Sorrel  were  carefully  examined  by  Captain  Henry 
Cocheu,  of  the  1 73d  New  York.  The  first  he  reported 
to  be  about  a  mile  in  length,  "composed  of  one  mass 
of  logs,  roots,  big  and  small  trees,  etc.,  jammed  tightly 


88  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

for  thirty  feet,  the  whole  length  of  my  pole."  The 
second  drift,  just  beyond,  was  found  nearly  as  bad, 
and  farther  on  lay  another  even  worse.  Moreover,  a 
thorough  reconnoissance  showed  the  whole  country, 
between  the  Mississippi  and  the  Atchafalaya  above  the 
Plaquemine,  to  be  impracticable  at  that  season  for  all 
arms.  After  more  than  a  month  of  this  sort  of  work, 
Emory  was  called  across  the  river  to  Baton  Rouge  to 
take  part  in  the  events  narrated  in  the  last  chapter. 

Banks  returned  to  New  Orleans  on  the  24th  of 
March,  and  the  next  day  ordered  Grover  to  embark 
and  move  down  the  river  to  Donaldsonville,  and 
thence  march  down  the  Bayou  La  Fourche  to  Thibo- 
deaux.  At  the  same  time  Emory  was  ordered,  as  soon 
as  Grover's  river  transports  should  be  released,  to  em 
bark  his  command  for  Algiers,  and  thence  move  by  the 
railway  to  Brashear.  Meanwhile,  on  the  i8th  of 
March,  Weitzel  learned  of  the  presence  of  the  Queen 
of  the  West  and  Webb  in  the  Atchafalaya,  and  as  this 
seemed  to  indicate  an  intention  to  attack  him,  and  the 
navy  had  no  more  light-draught  gunboats  to  spare  for 
his  further  security,  to  avoid  having  his  hand  forced 
and  the  game  spoiled,  he  discreetly  fell  back  on  the 
2ist  to  the  railway  bridge  over  Bayou  Bceuf,  and  took 
up  a  position  where  he  was  not  exposed,  as  at  Brashear, 
to  the  risk  of  being  cut  off  by  any  sudden  movement 
of  the  enemy. 

On  the  28th  of  March  the  Diana  was  sent  to  recon 
noitre  the  Confederate  position  and  strength  on  the 
lower  Teche ;  but  continuing  on  down  the  Atchafa 
laya,  instead  of  returning  by  Grand  Lake  as  intended, 
and  thus  running  into  the  arms  of  the  enemy,  she  fell 
an  easy  prey.  The  Calhoun  went  to  her  relief,  but 
ran  aground,  and  the  Estrella  had  to  go  to  the  assist- 


THE  TECHE.  89 

ance  of  the  Calhoun.  Acting-Master  James  L. 
Peterson,  commanding1  the  Diana,  was  killed,  and 
Lieutenant  Pickering  D.  Allen,  aide-de-camp  to  Gen 
eral  Weitzel,  was  wounded.  With  the  Diana  there 
fell  into  the  enemy's  hands  nearly  one  hundred  and 
fifty  prisoners.  This  gave  the  Confederates  three 
rather  formidable  boats  in  the  Atchafalaya  and  the 
Teche. 

The  movement  of  the  troops  was  necessarily  slow, 
as  well  by  reason  of  the  extremely  limited  facilities*for 
transportation,  as  because  of  the  state  of  the  roads, 
but  by  the  8th  of  April  every  thing  was  well  advanced, 
and  on  that  day  Banks  moved  his  headquarters  to 
Brashear.  Weitzel,  who  had  been  reinforced  by  the 
siege-train,  manned  by  the  ist  Indiana  heavy  artil 
lery,  had  already  re-occupied  his  former  front  on  Ber 
wick  Bay.  Emory  was  in  bivouac  at  Bayou  Ramos, 
about  five  miles  in  the  rear  of  Weitzel,  and  Groverat 
Bayou  Bceuf,  about  four  miles  behind  Emory.  Thus 
the  whole  movement  was  almost  completely  masked 
from  the  Confederates,  who  from  their  side  of  the 
bay  saw  only  Weitzel,  and  knew  little  or  nothing  of 
the  gathering  forces  in  his  rear.  So  little,  indeed,  that 
Taylor,  with  his  usual  enterprise,  seems  to  have 
thought  this  a  favorable  moment  for  attempting  upon 
Weitzel  the  same  operation  that  Weitzel  had  been  so 
long  meditating  for  the  discomfiture  of  Taylor. 

Emory  marched  early  in  the  morning  of  the  gth  of 
April  and  closed  up  on  Weitzel,  who,  an  hour  later, 
about  ten  o'clock,  began  to  cross.  No  enemy  was 
seen  save  a  small  outpost,  engaged  in  observing  the 
movement.  This  detachment  retired  before  Weitzel's 
advance,  without  coming  to  blows.  Weitzel  at  once 
sent  his  Assistant  Adjutant-General,  Captain  John  B. 


90  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

Hubbard,  with  Perkins's  and  Williamson's  troops  of 
cavalry  and  one  section  of  Bainbridge's  battery  to  dis 
cover  the  enemy's  position.  The  Confederates  were 
found  to  be  in  some  force  in  front  of  Pattersonville, 
with  their  cavalry  pickets  advanced  to  within  a  mile 
of  Weitzel's  front. 

As  soon  as  Weitzel  had  completed  his  crossing, 
and  released  the  boats,  Emory  followed  him.  The 
four  brigades  bivouacked  in  front  of  the  landing-place 
that  night.  The  gunboats,  having  done  the  greater 
share  of  the  ferriage,  went  back  to  the  east  bank  for 
Grover. 

Grover,  who  had  marched  from  Bayou  Bceuf  at 
nine  o'clock,  just  as  Emory  was  arriving  at  Brashear, 
came  there,  in  his  turn,  early  in  the  afternoon.  The 
plan  had  been  that  Grover  should  embark  immedi 
ately,  and,  having  his  whole  force  on  board  by  an 
early  hour  in  the  night,  the  boats  should  set  out 
at  daylight,  so  as  to  place  Grover  by  nine  o'clock  on 
the  morning  of  the  nth  in  position  for  the  work  cut 
out  for  him.  With  few  pilots,  and  the  shores  un- 
lighted,  it  was  out  of  the  question  to  attempt  the 
navigation  of  the  waters  of  the  Grand  Lake  during 
the  night.  However,  it  was  not  until  the  night 
of  the  iith  that  Grover  was  able  to  complete  the 
embarkation  of  his  division.  To  understand  this  it  is 
necessary  to  observe  that  Emory  and  Weitzel,  in 
making  the  passage  of  Berwick  Bay,  were  merely 
crossing  a  short  ferry,  so  that  the  boats  engaged 
in  the  transfer  could  be  loaded  rapidly  to  almost  any 
extent,  so  long  as  they  remained  afloat,  and  being 
unloaded  with  equal  facility,  were  in  a  few  minutes 
ready  to  repeat  the  operation.  In  Grover's  case, 
however,  the  infantry,  artillery,  cavalry,  and  stores 


THE  TECHE.  91 

had  all  to  be  taken  care  of  at  once,  with  every 
provision  for  fighting  a  battle.  For  this  the  artillery 
was  considered  indispensable,  and  it  was  not  without 
great  trouble  and  long  delay  that  the  guns  and  horses 
were  got  afloat.  Fate  seemed  to  be  against  Grover, 
for  after  all  had  been  accomplished,  by  the  greatest 
exertion  on  his  part,  as  well  as  on  the  part  of  his 
officers  and  the  corps  quartermasters,  a  fog  set  in  so 
dense  that  the  pilots  were  unable  to  see  their  way. 
This  continued  until  nine  o'clock  on  the  morning  of 
the  1 2th  ;  then  at  last  the  movement  began. 

About  noon,  on  the  nth  of  April,  Weitzel,  leading 
the  advance  of  the  main  column,  moved  forward.  At 
once  his  skirmishers  felt  the  skirmishers  of  the  enemy, 
who  retired  slowly,  without  attempting  any  serious 
opposition.  In  the  evening,  Weitzel  rested  in  line  of 
battle  a  short  distance  above  Pattersonville.  Emory 
followed  closely,  and  went  into  bivouac  on  Weitzel's 
left.  The  march  had  not  been  begun  earlier,  and  the 
enemy  was  not  pressed,  because  it  was  desired  to  keep 
him  amused  until  Grover  should  have  gained  his  rear, 
and  Grover  had  not  yet  started. 

After  the  early  morning  of  Sunday  the  I2th  of 
April,  had  been  spent  in  light  skirmishing  and  in 
demonstrations  of  the  cavalry,  designed  to  observe 
the  enemy,  and  at  the  same  time  to  attract  and  hold 
his  attention,  word  came  that  Grover  was  under  way. 
Banks  knew  that  the  passing  fleet  must  soon  be 
in  plain  sight  of  the  Confederates.  Therefore,  it 
was  now  necessary  to  move  promptly,  and  to  feel  the 
enemy  strongly,  yet  not  too  strongly,  lest  he  should 
abandon  his  position  too  soon  and  suddenly  spoil  all. 
From  this  moment  it  is  important  to  remember  that, 
save  in  the  event  of  complete  success,  no  word  could 


92  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

come  from  Grover  for  nearly  two  days.  The  first 
news  from  him  was  expected  to  be  the  sound  of  his 
guns  in  the  enemy's  rear. 

At  eleven  o'clock  the  bugle  again  sounded  the  ad 
vance.  The  whole  line  moved  forward,  continually 
skirmishing,  until,  about  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon, 
the  infantry  came  under  fire  of  the  Confederate  guns 
in  position  on  the  lines  known  as  Camp  Bisland. 
The  line  of  march  led  up  the  right  bank  of  the 
Atchafalaya  until  the  mouth  of  the  Teche  was 
reached,  thence  up  the  Teche,  partly  astride  the 
stream,  yet  mainly  by  the  right  bank.  At  first 
Weitzel  formed  on  the  right,  Emory  on  the  left,  but 
as  the  great  bend  of  the  Teche  was  reached,  about 
four  miles  below  Bisland,  and  by  the  nature  of  the 
ground  the  front  became  narrowed  at  the  same  time 
that  in  following  the  change  of  direction  of  the  bayou 
the  line  was  brought  to  a  wheel,  Weitzel  took  ground 
to  the  left  in  two  lines,  while  Emory  advanced 
Paine's  brigade  into  the  front  line  on  Weitzel's  right, 
placed  Ingraham  in  his  second  line,  and  made  a  third 
line  with  Gooding. 

Then  finding  the  enemy  beyond  the  Teche  too 
strong  for  the  cavalry  to  manage  single-handed, 
Banks  called  on  Emory  to  reinforce  the  right  bank. 
Emory  sent  Bryan  across  with  the  i75th  New  York 
and  a  section  of  the  ist  Maine  battery,  commanded 
by  Lieutenant  Eben  D.  Haley.  They  were  to  push 
the  enemy  back,  and  to  conform  to  the  advance 
of  the  main  line. 

The  day  was  hot,  the  air  close,  and  the  march  over 
the  fields  of  young  cane,  across  or  aslant  the  heavy  fur 
rows  and  into  and  over  the  deep  ditches,  was  trying 
to  the  men,  as  yet  but  little  accustomed  to  marches. 


THE  TECHE.  93 

Fortunately,  however,  there  was  no  need  of  pressing 
the  advance  until  Grover's  guns  should  be  heard. 
About  half-past  five  in  the  afternoon  a  brisk  artillery 
fire  began,  and  was  kept  up  until  night  fell ;  then 
Emory  moved  the  4th  Wisconsin  forward  to  hold 
a  grove  In  front  of  a  sugar-house,  near  the  bayou, 
well  in  advance  of  his  right,  in  order  to  prevent  the 
Confederates  from  occupying  it,  to  the  annoyance  of 
the  whole  line. 

After  dark  all  the  pickets  were  thrown  well  for 
ward  in  touch  with  those  of  the  enemy,  but  the  main 
lines  were  drawn  back  out  of  range,  for  the  sake  of  a 
good  night's  sleep  before  a  hard  day's  work. 


CHAPTER  X. 

BISLAND. 

THE  works  behind  which  the  Confederates  now 
stood  to  battle  were  named  Camp  Bisland  or  Fort 
Bisland,  in  honor  of  the  planter  whose  fields  were 
thus  given  over  to  war.  The  defences  consisted  of 
little  more  than  a  line  of  simple  breastworks,  of  rather 
low  relief,  thrown  completely  across  the  neck  of  dry 
land  on  either  bank  of  the  Teche,  the  flanks  resting 
securely  on  the  swamps  that  border  Grand  Lake  on 
the  left  and  on  the  right  extend  to  the  Gulf.  The 
position  was  well  chosen,  for  five  miles  below  Cen- 
treville,  where  the  plantation  of  Mrs.  Meade  adjoins 
the  Bethel  Place,  the  neck  is  at  its  narrowest.  The 
Teche,  passing  a  little  to  the  left  of  the  centre  of  the 
works,  enabled  the  guns  of  the  Diana,  moving  freely 
around  the  bends,  to  contribute  to  the  defence,  while 
the  obstructions  placed  below  the  works  hindered  the 
ascent  of  the  bayou  by  the  Union  gunboats.  The 
Confederate  right  was  also  somewhat  strengthened 
by  the  embankment  of  the  unfinished  railroad  to 
Opelousas.  On  the  other  hand,  from  the  nature  of 
the  ground,  low  and  flat  as  it  was,  the  works  were  in 
part  rather  commanded  than  commanding  ;  yet  the 
difference  of  level  was  inconsiderable,  and  for  a  force 
as  small  as  Taylor's,  outnumbered  as  his  was,  any 
slight  disadvantage  in  this  way  was  more  than  com 
pensated  by  the  shortness  of  the  line. 

94 


BISLAND.  95 

Along  the  banks  of  the  bayou  were  a  few  live  oaks ; 
on  either  flank  the  swamp  was  densely  wooded,  mainly 
with  cypress,  cottonwood,  and  willow,  with  an  out 
lying  and  almost  impenetrable  canebrake,  while  be 
tween  the  attacking  columns  and  the  Confederate 
position,  on  either  bank  of  the  bayou,  stretched  a 
field  where  the  young  shoots  of  the  sugar-cane  stood 
knee-high.  This  was  crossed,  at  right  angles  with 
the  bayou,  by  many  of  those  wide  and  deep  ditches 
by  which  the  planters  of  Louisiana  are  accustomed  to 
drain  their  tilled  lowlands. 

Such  was  the  scene  of  the  action  now  about  to  be 
fought,  known  to  the  Union  army  as  the  battle  of 
Bisland  or  Fort  Bisland  ;  to  the  Confederates,  as  the 
battle  of  Bethel  Place  or  Bayou  Teche. 

During  the  whole  of  the  night  of  the  i2th  a  dense 
fog  prevailed,  but  this  lifting  about  eight  o'clock  on 
the  morning  of  Monday,  the  i3th  of  April,  disclosed 
a  day  as  bright  and  beautiful  as  the  scene  was  fair. 
At  an  early  hour  the  whole  line  advanced  to  within 
short  musketry  range,  in  substantially  the  same  order 
as  on  the  previous  day.  An  attack  by  a  detachment 
of  Confederate  cavalry  upon  the  skirmishers  of  the 
4th  Wisconsin,  in  advance  of  the  sugar-house,  was 
easily  thrown  off,  and  a  later  demonstration  by  the 
Confederate  infantry  upon  Paine's  position  in  the 
grove  shared  the  same  fortune.  Emory  moved  first 
the  8th  New  Hampshire,  and  afterwards  the  i33d 
and  1 73d  New  York,  to  the  support  of  the  4th  Wis 
consin.  At  the  same  time  Banks  ordered  Emory  to 
send  the  other  four  regiments  of  Gooding's  brigade 
and  the  two  remaining  sections  of  the  ist  Maine  bat 
tery  to  reinforce  Bryan  with  the  i75th  New  York  on 
the  left  bank  of  the  Teche,  in  order  to  be  prepared, 


96  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

not  only  to  meet  a  flank  movement  of  the  Confeder 
ates  from  that  direction,  but  also  to  carry  the  works 
on  that  side,  should  this  be  thought  best.  After 
these  dispositions  had  been  completed,  the  advance 
was  steady  and  continuous,  yet  not  rapid,  until  toward 
noon  the  last  of  the  Confederates  retired  behind 
their  breastworks  and  opened  fire  with  musketry. 
The  ditches  already  spoken  of  hindered  the  progress 
of  the  Union  artillery,  yet  not  seriously,  while  they 
afforded  an  efficient  protection  for  the  supports  of  the 
batteries  and  enabled  the  lines  of  infantry  to  rest  at 
intervals  :  no  small  gain,  for  the  sun  grew  very  hot, 
and  the  march  over  the  heavy  windrows  and  across 
the  deep  ditches  was  exhausting. 

The  Confederate  gunboat  Diana  took  position  well 
in  front  of  the  works,  so  as  to  command  completely 
the  right  flank  of  Emory  and  Weitzel  as  they  ap 
proached  by  a  fire  that,  had  it  not  been  checked, 
must  have  enfiladed  the  whole  line.  Just  as  this  fire 
was  beginning  to  be  disturbing  it  was  silenced  by  a 
fortunate  shot  from  one  of  the  two  3O-pounder  Par- 
rott  guns,  served  by  the  ist  Indiana,  posted  in  rear 
of  Weitzel's  left  and  trained  upon  the  Diana,  under 
the  personal  supervision  of  Arnold.  The  third  shot 
from  this  battery,  aimed  at  the  flash  of  the  Diana's 
guns,  exploded  in  her  engine  room  ;  then  above 
the  trees,  whose  leafage  full  and  low  hid  the  vessel, 
was  seen  a  flash  like  a  puff  of  vapor  ;  a  rousing 
cheer  was  heard  from  the  sharpshooters  of  the  4th 
Wisconsin  and  8th  New  Hampshire,  who  had  been 
told  off  to  keep  down  the  fire  of  the  gunboat ;  and 
the  Diana  was  seen  to  pass  up  the  bayou  and  out  of 
the  fight. 

All  risk  of  an  enfilade  fire  being  thus  removed,  the 


X 


BISLAND 

APRIL  JZ-/3-/863 

ALSO  CALLED    FORT  BlSLAND    OR    CAMP  BiSLAND 
AND  BY  THE    CONFEDERATES 
BETHEL    PLACE 


B  ISLAND.  97 

whole  Union  line  quickly  closed  with  the  Confeder 
ates,  and  the  engagement  became  general  with  artil 
lery  and  musketry.  On  both  sides  of  the  bayou  the 
firing  was  brisk,  at  times  even  severe.  Save  where 
the  view  was  broken  here  and  there  by  the  trees  or 
became  lightly  clouded  by  the  smoke  of  battle,  the 
whole  field  lay  in  plain  sight.  As  the  course  of  the 
Teche  in  ascending  turned  toward  the  left,  Gooding, 
on  the  east  bank,  had  the  wheeling  flank,  while 
Weitzel  formed  the  pivot. 

Gooding  went  forward  in  gallant  style,  his  men 
quickening  their  pace  at  times  to  a  run,  in  order 
to  keep  the  alignment  with  the  main  body  on  the 
west  bank.  Perceiving  on  his  extreme  right,  toward 
the  lake,  a  fine  grove  or  copse,  Gooding  threw  out 
Sharpe  with  the  i56th  New  York  to  examine  the 
wood  with  a  view  of  attempting  to  turn  the  left  flank 
of  the  Confederate  lines.  These,  as  it  proved,  did  not 
extend  beyond  the  grove,  but  there  ended  in  an  un 
finished  redoubt.  Indeed,  nearly  the  whole  of  the  Con 
federate  works  on  the  east  side  of  the  bayou,  although 
laid  out  long  since,  had  been  but  recently  and  hastily 
thrown  up,  after  it  became  known  to  Taylor  that 
Banks  was  crossing  to  attack  him.  In  the  wood, 
about  five  hundred  yards  in  advance  of  the  breast 
works,  Mouton  had  posted  Bagby's  3d  Texas  regi 
ment.  The  Texans  held  their  ground  so  stifBy  that 
Gooding  found  it  necessary  to  send  his  own  regiment, 
the  3ist  Massachusetts,  to  the  support  of  Sharpe. 
Mouton  supported  Bagby  with  the  left  wing  of  the 
1 8th  Louisiana  and  parts  of  Fournet's  and  Waller's 
battalions.  Gooding' s  men  carried  the  rifle-pits  in 
the  wood  by  a  spirited  charge,  in  which  they  took  two 
officers  and  eighty-four  men  prisoners.  His  main  line 


X 


98  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

in  the  open  ground  between  the  wood  and  the  bayou 
was  formed  by  the  38th  Massachusetts,  deployed  as 
skirmishers,  covering  the  front  and  followed,  at  a 
distance  of  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards,  by  the 
53d  Massachusetts,  in  like  order.  Behind  the  53d, 
two  sections  of  the  ist  Maine  battery  were  posted 
to  command  two  parallel  plantation  roads  leading  up 
the  bayou,  while  the  third  section  was  held  in  reserve. 
After  the  3ist  Massachusetts  had  gone  to  the  support 
of  the  right,  the  main  line  here  was  composed  of  the 
1 75th  New  York.  Shortly  after  five  o'clock  the  53d 
Massachusetts  relieved  the  38th,  which  had  expended 
its  ammunition,  and  was  falling  back  under  orders  to 
replenish.  When  this  was  done,  the  38th  once  more 
advanced  and  formed  in  support  of  the  skirmish  line. 

Meanwhile  on  the  left  of  the  Teche  the  main  body 
moved  forward  in  two  lines  of  battalions  deployed, 
Paine  on  the  right  and  Weitzel  on  the  left,  while  In- 
graham,  in  column  of  companies,  formed  the  reserve 
for  both.  Paine's  first  line  on  the  right,  nearest  the 
bayou,  was  composed  of  the  4th  Wisconsin  and  8th 
New  Hampshire,  his  second  line  of  the  i33d  New 
York  and  the  i73d  New  York.  Mack's  2O-pounders 
commanded  the  bayou  road,  and  Duryea  went  into 
battery  in  advance  of  the  centre,  between  Paine  and 
Weitzel. 

Weitzel's  front  line  was  composed  of  the  8th  Ver 
mont  and  ii4th  New  York,  with  the  I2th  Connecti 
cut,  i6oth  New  York,  and  75th  New  York  in  the 
second  line.  The  guns  of  Bainbridge  and  Carruth 
went  into  battery  near  the  left  flank,  and  working 
slowly  kept  down  the  fire  of  the  Confederate  artil 
lery  in  their  front.  When  the  fire  of  musketry  be 
came  hot,  Weitzel  sent  the  75th  New  York  to  try 


BISLAND.  99 

to  gain  the  canebrake  on  the  left,  in  advance  of 
the  enemy's  works,  with  a  view  of  turning  that  flank. 
Of  this  movement  Taylor  says  in  his  report  that 
it  was  twice  repulsed  by  the  5th  Texas  and  Waller's 
battalion,  under  Green,  and  the  28th  Louisiana,  Col 
onel  Gray,  aided  by  the  guns  of  Semmes's  battery  and 
the  Valverde  battery.  However,  the  counter-move 
ment  on  the  part  of  the  Confederates,  being  begun 
in  plain  view,  was  instantly  seen,  and  Banks  sent 
word  to  Weitzel  to  check  it.  With  this  object,  Weit- 
zel  ordered  the  i  i4th  New  York  to  go  to  the  support 
of  the  75th.  A  brisk  fight  followed,  without  material 
advantage  to  either  side.  In  truth,  the  canebrake 
formed  an  impenetrable  obstacle  to  the  combatants, 
who,  when  once  they  had  passed  within  the  outer 
edge  of  the  tangle,  were  unable  either  to  see  or  ap 
proach  one  another,  although  the  struggle  was  plainly 
visible  from  the  front  of  both  armies. 

The  reserve  of  Parrott  guns,  manned  by  the  ist  In 
diana  and  composed  of  four  3opounders  and  four 
2o-pounders,  was  posted  under  McMillan  to  cover  the 
left  flank  and  the  broken  centre  where  it  was  pierced 
by  the  bayou,  as  well  as  to  watch  for  the  return  of 
the  Diana  to  activity.  Toward  evening  the  remain 
ing  guns  of  the  ist  Indiana,  two  12-pounder  rifles 
under  Cox,  after  being  posted  in  support  of  the  cen 
tre,  were  sent  to  the  left  to  assist  Bainbridge  and 
Carruth,  whose  ammunition  was  giving  out. 

Banks,  after  gaining  advanced  positions  in  contact 
with  the  enemy,  forbore  to  press  them  hard  because, 
as  has  been  seen,  his  whole  purpose  was  to  hold  the 
Confederates  where  they  stood  until  he  could  hear  of 
Grover  or  from  Grover.  As  the  day  advanced  with 
out  news  or  the  long-expected  sound  of  Grover's 


ioo  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

guns,  Banks  began  to  grow  impatient  and  to  fear  that 
the  adventure  from  which  so  much  had  been  hoped 
had  somehow  miscarried.  He  therefore  became  even 
more  anxious  than  before  lest  the  Confederates  should 
move  off  under  cover  of  the  coming  night.  Accord 
ingly,  during  the  afternoon,  although  it  had  been  his 
previous  purpose  not  to  deliver  an  assault  until  cer 
tain  that  Grover  held  the  Confederate  line  of  retreat, 
Banks  gave  discretionary  orders  to  Emory  and  Weit- 
zel  to  form  for  an  attack  and  move  upon  the  Con 
federate  works  if  a  favorable  opportunity  should 
present  itself.  The  exercise  of  this  discretion  in  turn 
devolved  upon  the  commanders  of  the  front  line,  that 
is,  upon  Weitzel  and  Paine,  for  Gooding,  being  out  of 
communication,  except  by  signal,  with  the  troops  on 
the  west  bank,  was  occupied  in  conforming  to  their 
movements.  Paine  and  Weitzel,  after  conferring, 
resolved  to  attack,  and,  having  made  every  prepara 
tion,  only  waited  for  the  word  from  the  commanding 
general. 

The  day  was  waning  ;  it  was  already  past  four 
o'clock ;  and  Banks  was  still  somewhat  anxiously 
weighing  the  approach  of  night  and  the  cost  of  the 
assault  against  the  chance  of  news  from  Grover,  when 
suddenly,  straight  up  the  bayou,  and  high  above  the 
heads  of  Banks  and  his  men,  a  9-inch  shell  came 
hurtling,  and  as  it  was  seen  to  burst  over  the  lines  of 
Bisland,  from  far  in  the  rear  broke  the  deep  roar  of 
the  Clifton  s  bow-gun.  Soon  from  below  the  obstruc 
tions  that  barred  her  progress  came  a  messenger 
bearing  the  long-expected  tidings  of  Grover.  At 
last  he  was  on  land  and  in  march  toward  his  position. 
With  a  sense  of  relief  Banks  recalled  his  orders  for 
the  assault  and  drew  his  front  line  back  out  of  fire 


BISLAND. 


of  the  Confederate  musketry  so  that  the  men  might 
rest.  To  relieve  the  exhausted  skirmish  line,  the  4th 
Massachusetts  and  the  i62d  New  York  of  Ingraham's 
brigade  were  sent  forward  from  the  reserve,  leaving 
him  only  the  uoth  New  York. 

By  dawn  the  next  morning,  at  all  events,  Banks 
calculated,  the  turning  column  would  be  in  place  ; 
accordingly  during  the  night  he  gave  orders  to  as 
sault  along-  the  whole  front  as  soon  as  it  should  be 

o 

light  enough  to  see. 

However,  shortly  after  midnight,  sounds  were 
heard  on  the  picket  line,  indicating  some  unusual 
movement  behind  the  Confederate  works.  When,  at 
daybreak,  the  various  skirmishers  moved  forward  in 
eager  rivalry,  they  found  the  Confederates  gone. 
Captain  Allaire,  leading  his  company  of  the  i33d 
New  York,  was  the  first  to  enter  the  works  ;  the  regi 
ment  itself  and  the  8th  New  Hampshire  followed 
closely,  and  the  colors  of  the  8th  were  the  first  to 
mount  the  parapet,  where  they  were  planted  by  Paine, 
On  the  left  bank,  this  honor  fell  to  the  53d  Massa 
chusetts.  But  in  truth  the  surge  was  so  nearly  simul 
taneous  that  the  whole  line  of  entrenchments  on  both 
sides  of  the  bayou,  from  right  to  left,  was  crossed 
almost  at  the  same  instant. 

It  was  nine  o'clock  on  Monday  night  when  Taylor 
learned  of  Grover's  movements  and  position,  as  nar 
rated  in  the  next  chapter.  Taylor  at  once  began  to 
move  out  of  the  lines  of  Bisland  and  to  direct  his 
attention  to  Grover  in  order  to  secure  a  retreat.  Just 
before  daylight  Green,  to  whom,  with  his  5th  Texas, 
Waller's  battalion,  and  West's  section  of  Semmes's 
battery,  Taylor  had  given  the  more  than  usually  deli 
cate  task  of  covering  the  rear,  marched  off  the  ground, 


riOi  THE  'NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 


leaving  nothing  behind  save  one  24-pounder  siege 
gun  and  a  disabled  howitzer  of  Cornay's  battery. 

Without  losing  an  instant  the  pursuit  of  the  retreat 
ing  Confederates  was  begun,  Weitzel  leading  the  way, 
and  was  conducted  with  vigor  and  with  scarcely  a  halt, 
notwithstanding  the  energetic  opposition  of  the  Con 
federate  rear-guard,  until  early  in  the  afternoon,  just 
beyond  Franklin,  Emory's  advance  guard,  under 
Paine,  following  the  bayou  road,  ran  into  Grover's, 
under  Dwight,  approaching  from  the  opposite  direc 
tion.  Weitzel,  having  entered  Franklin  without  op 
position,  kept  the  left-hand  or  cut-off  road  until  he 
came  to  the  burnt  bridge  over  the  Choupique,  by 
which,  as  will  presently  be  seen,  the  Confederates 
had  escaped. 

Gooding,  after  occupying  the  works  in  his  front, 
crossed  the  Teche  by  a  bridge  to  the  west  bank  and 
fell  into  Emory's  column  behind  Ingraham.  The 
Clifton,  as  soon  as  the  obstructions  could  be  removed, 
got  under  way  and  moved  up  the  bayou  abreast  with 
the  advance  of  the  army. 

The  losses  of  the  Nineteenth  Army  Corps  in  this 
its  first  battle  were  3  officers  and  37  men  killed,  8 
officers  and  176  men  wounded  ;  in  all  224.  The  38th 
Massachusetts  headed  the  list  with  6  killed  and  29 
wounded,  and  Gooding's  brigade,  to  which  this  regi 
ment  belonged,  reported  87  casualties,  or  38  percent, 
of  the  whole.  In  the  six  light  batteries  15  horses 
were  killed  and  12  wounded,  and  one  caisson  of  the 
ist  Maine  was  upset  and  lost  in  crossing  the  Teche  to 
go  into  action. 

The  losses  of  the  Confederates  have  never  been 
reported  and  no  means  are  known  to  exist  for  estima 
ting  them. 


BISLAND.  103 

The  disparity  of  the  forces  engaged  was  more  than 
enough  to  overcome  the  Confederate  advantage  of 
position,  for  Banks  had  10,000  men  with  38  guns, 
while  Taylor  reports  but  4,000  men  with  four  bat 
teries,  estimated  at  24  or  25  guns.  To  these  must  be 
added  the  Diana,  until  disabled  on  Monday  morning, 
and  to  the  Union  strength  the  Clifton,  after  she 
arrived  and  opened  fire  at  long  range  on  Monday 
afternoon. 

At  Bisland  the  new  headquarters  flags  were  for  the 
first  time  carried  under  fire.  These  distinguishing 
colors,  as  prescribed  in  General  Orders  on  the  i8th  of 
February,  were  guidons  four  feet  square  attached  to  a 
lance  twelve  feet  long,  made  for  convenience  in  two 
joints.  In  camp  or  garrison  they  served  to  indicate 
the  quarters  of  the  general  commanding  the  corps, 
division,  or  brigade,  while  on  the  march  they  were 
borne  near  his  person  by  a  mounted  orderly,  commonly 
a  trusty  sergeant.  The  flag  of  the  Nineteenth  Army 
Corps  was  blue  with  a  white  four-pointed  star  in  the 
middle,  and  on  the  star  the  figures  19  in  red.  From 
this  the  division  flags  differed  only  in  having  a  red 
ground  and  the  number  of  the  division  in  black.  The 
brigade  flags  had  blue,  white,  and  blue  horizontal 
stripes  of  equal  width,  with  the  number  of  the  brigade 
in  black  in  the  white  stripe.  Thenceforward  these 
colors  were  borne  through  every  engagement  in  which 
the  corps  took  part.  Not  one  of  them  was  ever 
abandoned  by  its  bearer  or  taken  by  the  enemy. 


CHAPTER  XL 

IRISH  BEND. 

GROVER'S  instructions  were  to  gain  a  landing  on  the 
shore  of  Grand  Lake,  and  then  marching  on  Frank 
lin,  to  cut  off  Taylor's  retreat  or  to  attack  him  in  the 
rear,  as  circumstances  might  suggest. 

We  have  seen  how,  instead  of  being  ready  to  move 
from  Berwick  Bay  on  the  morning  of  the  loth  of 
April,  Grover  found  his  departure  delayed  by  the 
various  causes  already  mentioned  until  the  morning 
of  the  1 2th  was  well  advanced. 

The  flotilla,  under  Lieutenant-Commander  Cooke, 
composed  of  the  flag-ships  Estrella,  Arizona,  Clifton, 
and  Calhoun,  having  completed  the  ferriage  of  Emory 
and  Weitzel  over  Berwick  Bay,  was  now  occupied  in 
assisting  the  army  transports  to  convey  Grover  to 
his  destination,  besides  standing  ready  to  protect  his 
movement  and  his  landing  with  its  guns. 

About  noon,  when  off  Cypress  Island,  the  Arizona 
ran  hard  and  fast  aground,  and  four  precious  hours 
were  lost  in  a  vain  attempt  to  get  her  afloat.  If,  in 
the  light  of  after  events,  this  may  seem  like  time 
wasted,  it  should  always  be  remembered  that  all  four 
of  the  gunboats  were  crowded  with  troops,  while  an 
attack  from  the  Qticen  of  the  West  and  her  consorts 
was  to  be  looked  for  at  any  moment.  Finally,  rather 
than  to  put  the  adventure  in  peril  by  a  longer  delay, 

104 


IRISH  BEND.  105 

Cooke  determined  to  leave  the  Arizona  to  take  care 
of  herself,  and  once  more  steaming  ahead,  at  half- 
past  seven  o'clock,  the  gunboats  and  transports  came 
to  anchor  below  Miller's  Point,  off  Madame  Porter's 
plantation.  At  this  place,  known  as  Oak  Lawn, 
Grover  in  the  orders  under  which  he  was  acting  had 
been  told  he  might  expect  to  find  a  good  shell  road 
leading  straight  to  the  Teche,  and  crossing  the  bayou 
about  the  middle  of  the  bow  called  Irish  Bend.  Grover 
at  once  sent  Fiske  with  two  companies  of  the  ist 
Louisiana  ashore  in  the  Clifton  s  boats  to  reconnoi 
tre.  It  was  midnight  when,  after  carefully  examining 
the  ground,  Fiske  returned  to  the  gunboat  and  re 
ported  the  road  under  water,  and  quite  impracticable 
for  all  arms.  The  fleet  then  got  under  way,  and  pro 
ceeding  about  six  miles  farther  up  the  lake,  anchored 
beyond  Magee's  Point. 

Before  daylight  Dwight  sent  two  of  his  staff  officers, 
Captain  Denslow  and  Lieutenant  Matthews,  ashore, 
with  a  small  detachment  from  the  6th  New  York,  to 
examine  the  plantation  road  leading  from  this  point 
to  the  Teche.  The  road  being  found  practicable  for 
all  arms,  the  debarkation  began  at  daybreak. 

Dwight  landed  first.  As  soon  as  his  leading  regi 
ment,  the  ist  Louisiana,  reached  the  shore,  Holcomb 
threw  forward  two  companies,  under  Lieutenant-Colo 
nel  Fiske,  as  skirmishers,  and  formed  the  battalion  in 
line  to  cover  the  landing. 

Taylor,  when  he  first  learned  that  the  gunboats  and 
transports  had  passed  up  Grand  Lake,  had  sent  Vin 
cent,  with  the  2d  Louisiana  cavalry  and  a  section  of 
Cornay's  battery,  to  Verdun  Landing,  about  four  miles 
behind  Camp  Bisland,  to  observe  and  oppose  the 
movement.  This  was  about  noon  on  Sunday,  the 


106  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

1 2th.  In  the  evening,  hearing  of  the  progress  of  the 
fleet,  Taylor  sent  a  second  section  of  Cornay's  battery 
to  the  lake,  and  going  himself  to  Vincent  ordered 
him  to  follow  the  movement  and  try  to  prevent  a 
landing.  The  next  morning  Taylor  sent  Reily  with 
the  4th  Texas,  to  join  Vincent  and  aid  him  in  retard 
ing  Grover's  progress. 

Taylor  seems  to  have  censured  Vincent  for  letting 
Grover  land,  yet  in  truth  Vincent  was  not  to  blame. 
The  line  he  had  to  watch  was  too  long  for  his  num 
bers,  and  the  Union  flotilla  could  and  did  move  more 
rapidly  on  the  lake  than  the  Confederate  troops  by 
the  roads.     When  he  had  stationed  his  pickets  at  the 
probable  landing-places,  and  taken  up  a  central  posi 
tion   to   support   them,   he  had   done  all  that  lay  in 
his  power.    The  range  and  weight  of  the  9-inch  shells 
of  the  navy  .were  alone  enough  to  put  a  serious  oppo 
sition  to  the  landing  out  of  the  question,  but  as  soon 
as  Vincent  found  where  the  attempt  was  to  be  made, 
he  disposed  his  men  and  guns  to  retard  it.     Two  of 
Cornay's  guns  even  tried,  ineffectually  of  course,  to 
destroy  the  transports  :  Cooke  quickly  drove  them  off. 
As  Holcomb's  skirmishers  deployed  they  were  met 
by  a  brisk  fusillade  from  Vincent's  men  strongly  posted 
in  ambush  behind  a  high   fence  in   the   thick  wood 
that  skirts  the  shore  ;  but  when   Holcomb  advanced 
his  battalion  Vincent's  men  fell  back  on  their  main 
body  and  left  the  wood  to  Holcomb,  who  immediately 
moved  to  the  edge  of  the  clearing  and  held  it,  obser 
ving  the   enemy  on   the   farther   border.     This  was 
Vincent  with  his  regiment  and  the  four  guns  of  Cor- 
nay ;  and  from  this  moment  all  that  was  happening 
on  the  lake  shore  passed  unseen  by  the  Confederates. 
Meanwhile  the  landing  went  on  very  slowly,  for  the 


IRISH  BEND.  107 

transports  could  not  come  nearer  to  the  beach  than  a 
hundred  yards,  and,  although  the  foot-soldiers  were 
able  to  jump  overboard  and  scramble  ashore,  and  the 
horses  could  also  take  to  the  water,  it  was  necessary 
to  make  a  bridge  of  flats  for  the  guns  and  caissons  of 
the  artillery.  Thus  it  was  four  o'clock  in  the  after 
noon  before  the  whole  division  found  itself  assembled 
on  the  plantation  of  Duncan  McWilliams  on  the 
shore  of  the  lake,  with  the  Teche  at  the  upper  reach 
of  Irish  Bend  four  miles  to  the  southward,  and  Char- 
enton  in  the  hollow  of  Indian  Bend  lying  but  two 
miles  toward  the  southwest.  There  were  roads  in 
either  direction,  but  Irish  Bend  was  the  way  to  Frank 
lin,  and  to  Franklin  Grover  was  under  orders  to  go. 

About  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning  Dwight  had  bor 
rowed  from  Birge  his  two  leading  regiments,  the  I3th 
Connecticut  and  the  i5Qth  New  York,  to  support  the 
ist  Louisiana.  Grover  also  gave  Dwight  Closson's 
battery  and  Barrett's  troop  of  cavalry.  Toward  noon, 
moving  a  detachment  by  his  left,  Dwight  seized  the 
bridge  that  crosses  the  Teche  in  approaching  Madame 
Porter's  plantation  from  the  northward,  just  in  time 
to  extinguish  the  flames  that  Vincent's  men  had 
lighted  to  destroy  it.  After  seizing  the  bridge  at 
Oak  Lawn,  Barrett  galloped  down  the  left  bank  of 
the  Teche  and  seized  the  bridge  a  mile  or  two  below, 
by  which  the  same  plantation  is  reached  from  the 
eastward ;  probably  by  the  shell  road  that  Grover  had 
been  told  to  take,  and  at  which  he  had  tried  to  land. 
Barrett  was  in  time  to  save  the  bridge  from  Vincent, 
and  to  hold  the  advantage  thus  gained  Dwight  soon 
sent  Holcomb  with  the  ist  Louisiana,  i3ist  New  York, 
6th  New  York,  22d  Maine,  and  Closson's  battery. 

Meanwhile,    the    division    being    entirely    without 


io8  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

wagons,  save  a  few  that  were  loaded  with  the  re 
serve  ammunition,  still  another  wait  took  place  while 
the  men's  haversacks  were  being  filled  with  hard  bread 
and  coffee.  All  these  delays  were  now  having  their 
effect  upon  Grover's  own  calculations.  He  now  knew 
nothing  of  Banks's  movements  or  of  his  situation.  Of 
his  own  movements  he  was  bound  to  suppose  that 
Taylor  had  received  early  and  full  information.  More 
over,  the  topography  of  the  country  where  Grover 
found  himself  was  obscure  and  to  him  unknown.  In 
stead,  therefore,  of  marching  forward  as  fast  as  his 
troops  could  land,  boldly  and  at  all  hazards  to  seize 
the  roads  by  which  Taylor  must  retreat,  Grover  now 
took  counsel  with  prudence  and  concealing  his  force 
behind  the  natural  screen  of  the  wood,  waited  till  his 
whole  division  should  be  fully  ready. 

Thus  it  was  six  o'clock  and  the  sun  stood  low 
among  the  tree-tops  when  Grover,  with  Birge  and 
Kimball,  took  up  the  line  of  march  for  the  Teche. 
Crossing  the  upper  of  the  two  bridges,  he  went  into 
bivouac  on  the  right  bank  on  the  plantation  of 
Madame  Porter,  and  called  in  Dwight's  detachment. 
Before  setting  out  to  rejoin  the  division  Holcomb 
burned  the  lower  bridge,  under  orders,  and  then 
marching  up  the  left  bank,  crossed  the  upper  bridge 
at  a  late  hour  of  the  night.  In  Grover's  front  stood 
Vincent  alone,  for  Reily  had  not  yet  come  ;  but  in 
the  darkness  it  was  impossible  for  Grover  to  make  out 
the  enemy's  force,  or  even  to  find  his  exact  position. 

When  about  nine  o'clock  that  night,  as  related  in 
the  last  chapter,  Taylor  heard  the  news  from  Reily, 
he  supposed  Grover  to  be  already  in  strong  possession 
of  the  only  road  by  which  the  Confederates  could 
make  good  their  retreat  up  the  Teche  ;  yet  desperate 


IRISH  BEND.  109 

as  the  situation  seemed,  Taylor  at  once  made  up  his 
mind  to  try  to  extricate  himself  from  the  toils.  Send 
ing  his  wagon  train  ahead,  soon  after  midnight  he 
silently  moved  out  of  the  lines  of  Bisland  and  marched 
rapidly  on  Franklin,  leaving  Green  to  cover  the  rear 
and  retard  the  pursuit.  These  dispositions  made, 
Taylor  himself  rode  at  once  to  his  reversed  front, 
a  mile  east  of  Franklin.  With  him  were  Reily, 
whom  he  had  picked  up  on  the  road  below  Frank 
lin,  Vincent  who  with  the  four  guns  of  Cornay  was 
still  watching  Grover,  and  Clack's  Louisiana  bat 
talion,  which  had  come  in  from  New  Iberia  just  in 
the  nick  of  time.  The  plantation  with  the  sugar- 
house,  then  belonging  to  McKerrall,  is  now  known 
as  Shaffer's.  The  grounds  of  Oak  Lawn  adjoin  it 
toward  the  east  and  north,  and  along  its  western 
boundary  stand  Nerson's  Woods,  whence  the  com 
ing  battle  takes  the  name  given  to  it  in  the  Confed 
erate  accounts.  Here,  beneath  the  trees,  along  their 
eastern  skirt  and  behind  a  stout  fence,  Taylor  formed 
his  line  of  battle,  facing  toward  the  east,  and  waited 
for  the  coming  of  Grover.  South  of  the  bayou  road 
stood  Clack  ;  on  his  left,  two  pieces  of  Cornay's  bat 
tery,  next  Reily,  then  Vincent  with  a  second  section 
of  Cornay's  guns.  The  task  before  them  was  simple 
but  desperate.  They  were  to  hold  off  Grover  until 
all  but  they  had  safely  passed  behind  the  living 
barrier.  Then  they  were  to  extricate  themselves  as 
best  they  could,  and  falling  in  rear  of  the  main  column 
of  the  Confederate  army  try  to  make  good  their  own 
escape.  Before  this  could  happen,  Grover  might 
overwhelm  them  or  Banks  might  overtake  them ;  yet 
there  was  no  other  way. 

As  early  on  the  morning  of  Tuesday  the   I4th  of 


i io  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

April  as  it  was  light  enough  to  see,  Grover  marched 
on  Franklin  by  the  winding  bayou  road.  Preceded  by 
Barrett  and  a  strong  line  of  skirmishers,  Birge  with 
Rodgers's  battery  led  the  column  ;  Dwight  with  Clos- 
son's  battery,  followed ;  while  Kimball  with  Nims's 
battery  brought  up  the  rear. 

The  head  of  Grover's  column  had  gone  about  two 
miles,  and  in  a  few  moments  more  would  have  turned 
the  sharp  corner  of  the  bayou  and  faced  toward 
Franklin,  when,  on  the  right,  near  the  sugar-house, 
Birge's  skirmishers  ran  into  those  of  Clack's  battalion, 
and  the  battle  of  Irish  Bend  began. 

Between  Birge  and  the  concealed  Confederate 
ranks,  past  which  he  was  in  fact  marching,  while  his 
line  of  direction  gave  his  right  flank  squarely  to 
the  hostile  front,  lay  the  broad  and  open  fields  of 
McKerrall's  plantation,  where  the  young  sugar-cane 
stood  a  foot  high  above  the  deep  and  wide  furrows. 
From  recent  ploughing  and  still  more  recent  rains 
the  fat  soil  was  soft  and  heavy  under  foot,  and  here 
and  there  the  cross-furrows,  widening  and  deepening 
into  a  ditch,  added  to  the  toil  and  difficulty  of  move 
ment,  both  for  men  and  guns.  On  the  left  flowed 
the  dark  and  sluggish  Teche.  On  the  right  lay  the 
swamp,  thickly  overgrown  and  nearly  impassable, 
whence  the  waters  of  the  Choupique  begin  to  ooze 
toward  the  Gulf.  Along  the  southern  border  of  this 
morass  ran  a  great  transverse  ditch  that  carried  off 
the  gathered  seepage  of  the  lesser  drains.  In  front, 
on  the  western  edge  of  the  cane-field,  stood  Nerson's 
woods,  where,  as  yet  unseen,  the  Confederates  lay  in 
wait  ;  while  before  them,  like  a  screen,  stretched  a 
low  fringe  of  brake  and  undergrowth. 

Birge's  order  of  march  placed  the  25th  Connecticut 


IRISH  BEND.  in 

in  the  advance,  one  wing  deployed  as  skirmishers 
across  the  road,  the  other  wing  in  reserve.  Next 
came  the  26th  Maine  with  Bradley's  section  of 
Rodgers's  battery,  then  the  iSQth  New  York,  then 
the  remainder  of  Rodgers's  battery,  while  the  I3th 
Connecticut  brought  up  the  rear.  When  he  saw  his 
skirmishers  briskly  engaged  and  by  the  sound  and 
smoke  discovered  the  position  of  the  enemy,  Birge 
made  the  reserved  battalion  of  the  25th  Connecticut 
change  front  forward  and  move  across  the  field  against 
the  Confederate  left.  Bissell  led  his  men  quickly  to 
within  a  hundred  yards  of  the  wood,  where  they  lay 
down  under  the  partial  cover  of  a  ditch  and  began 
firing.  Hubbard,  with  the  26th  Maine,  came  up  on 
Bissell's  left  and  took  up  the  same  tactics.  At  once 
the  enfilade  fire  of  Cornay's  section  near  the  bayou 
on  the  right  of  the  Confederate  line  became  vigorous 
and  annoying,  until  Bradley  took  his  two  guns  at  a 
gallop  to  the  skirt  of  the  undergrowth  opposite  the 
interval  between  the  infantry  battalions  and,  opening 
fire  at  five  hundred  yards'  range,  engaged  for  a  time 
the  whole  attention  of  the  Confederate  cannoneers. 
Then  Grover,  who  rode  with  Birge,  sent  in  the  i5Qth 
New  York  on  the  left  of  the  26th  Maine,  with  orders 
to  take  the  wood,  while  the  i3th  Connecticut,  march 
ing  round  the  bend  of  the  bayou,  formed  on  the  ex 
treme  left  between  the  stream  and  the  road. 

Molineux  promptly  deployed  his  regiment,  and 
gallantly  led  it  forward  at  the  double-quick  over  and 
beyond  the  left  of  the  line  already  formed,  until  the 
men  were  within  short  point-blank  range  of  the  enemy's 
musketry  ;  there,  finding  them  exhausted  by  the  rapid 
advance  over  the  rough  and  heavy  ground,  as  well  as 
suffering  severely  from  the  bullets  of  the  enemy,  he 


ii2  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

made  the  men  throw  off  their  blankets  and  overcoats, 
lie  down,  and  open  a  vigorous  fire.  Perhaps  under 
the  stress  of  this,  but  more  probably  in  preparation 
for  the  counter-attack,  the  Confederates  slackened 
their  fire,  and  Molineux,  perceiving  his  opportunity, 
as  it  seemed,  was  in  the  act  of  uttering  the  command 
"  Forward  !"  when  a  bullet  struck  him  in  the  mouth 
and  he  fell,  painfully  wounded,  leaving  the  command 
of  the  regiment,  for  the  time,  to  Captain  Dayton. 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Draper  had  already  fallen,  and 
Major  Burt  was  with  Grover,  serving  on  the  staff. 

At  the  word  the  men  sprang  to  their  feet,  but  before 
the  command  could  be  carried  out,  suddenly  came  the 
crisis  of  the  battle.  About  seven  o'clock,  Gray  had 
brought  up  the  28th  Louisiana  to  Taylor's  aid,  and 
with  it  the  news  that  the  rest  of  the  forces  from 
Bisland  were  close  at  hand  and  all  was  well  with  them. 
Under  cover  of  the  wood,  Taylor  moved  Gray  quickly 
to  the  left,  and  perceiving  that  his  line  now  overlapped 
Grover's  right,  promptly  determined  to  gain  the  brief 
time  he  still  needed  for  the  safe  retreat  of  his  main 
body  by  a  bold  and  vigorous  attack  with  the  whole 
force  he  had  under  his  hand.  The  order  was  obeyed 
with  spirit.  Out  of  the  wood  beyond  the  right,  and 
from  the  main  ditch,  well  in  the  rear  of  the  i5Qth, 
the  Confederates  came  charging  strongly,  and  halting, 
they  poured  in  a  hot  volley.  Seeing  that  the  situation 
was  critical  Dayton  ordered  the  regiment  to  retire. 
Under  a  severe  fire  it  fell  back  quickly,  yet  in  good 
order,  to  the  road.  There  it  promptly  re-formed  on 
its  colors,  and  Burt  rejoining  took  the  command. 

In  their  retreat  the  New  Yorkers  swept  over  the 
position  of  the  26th  Maine  and  the  25th  Connecticut 
and  carried  these  already  shaken  regiments  with 


TIRISH    BEND 

APRIL  /4-T?/863 
CALLED  BY  THE.    CONFEDERATES 


IRISH  BEND.  113 

them,  in  some  natural  disorder ;  but  this  lasted  hardly 
longer  than  was  needed  for  Dwight  to  hear  and  obey 
the  command  that  now  came  back  from  Grover,  to 
deploy  the  first  brigade  and  take  up  the  broken  battle. 

Bradley  held  his  ground  stoutly  to  the  last  moment, 
and  when  finally  the  choice  was  narrowed  to  retreat 
or  capture,  he  retired  in  good  order  to  a  fresh  posi 
tion,  and  there  serving  his  canister  with  coolness  and 
deliberation,  held  off  the  enemy's  advance.  At  this 
point,  Rodgers,  who  with  his  centre  section  was  in 
the  road  on  the  left,  engaged  at  800  and  400  yards 
with  Cornay's  right  section,  turned  his  attention  to 
the  Confederate  infantry  on  the  right,  and  crossing 
with  spherical  case-shot  the  canister  fire  of  his  Lieu 
tenant,  made  good  the  check. 

Almost  at  the  moment  when  Taylor's  left  was  thus 
roughly  bearing  down  the  right  of  Birge,  on  his  left 
his  own  1 3th  Connecticut,  under  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Warner,  enveloped  in  a  grove,  was  moving  steadily  on 
the  Confederate  right,  where  Clack  stood  and  the 
two  guns  of  Cornay.  Emerging  from  the  grove  into 
an  open  field  that  still  lay  between  them  and  the 
enemy  in  the  wood,  Warner's  men  instantly  replied 
to  the  volleys  of  cannon  and  small-arms  that  greeted 
their  appearance  and  pushed  on,  firing  as  they  went. 
More  fortunate  than  their  comrades  in  the  direction 
and  the  moment  of  their  attack,  they  pressed  back 
Clack,  drove  off  Cornay's  guns,  and  took  two  of  his 
caissons,  a  limber,  and  a  color  presented  to  his  bat 
tery  by  the  ladies  of  Franklin.  Nearly  60  prisoners 
at  the  same  time  fell  into  their  hands.  They  were 
still  advancing  when  Grover's  orders  recalled  them  to 
the  restored  line  of  battle  of  the  brigade. 

As  Birge' s  right  retired,  Dwight  deployed  in  two 


1 14  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

lines,  the  6th  New  York  and  the  Qist  New  York  in 
front,  the  22d  Maine,  ist  Louisiana,  and  i3ist  New 
York  in  support,  and  advancing  against  Taylor's  left 
flank  and  overlapping  it  in  its  turn  pushed  it  back 
into  and  beyond  the  woods.  In  this  movement  D wight 
took  70  prisoners.  The  resistance  he  encountered 
was  feeble  compared  with  the  vigor  with  which  Birge 
had  been  met  and  turned  back,  for  in  that  effort  the 
Confederate  line  of  battle  had  practically  gained  its 
main  object  and  had  now  only  to  extricate  itself  and 
make  good  its  own  withdrawal. 

Birge,  at  the  same  time  that  he  drew  back  the  I3th 
Connecticut,  once  more  moved  forward  his  three  other 
regiments  and  re-formed  the  brigade  in  two  lines  on 
Dwight's  left. 

Kimball,  whose  brigade  was  in  two  lines  in  reserve, 
brought  up  the  i2th  Maine  to  the  support  of  the  I3th 
Connecticut. 

This  done,  Grover  advanced  the  whole  division 
through  the  woods  to  the  open  fields  on  their  farther 
or  western  verge,  and  seeing  the  Confederates  in  force 
on  the  knoll  beyond,  to  which  they  had  retired,  halted 
and  began  to  observe  and  reconnoitre. 

To  cover  the  right  flank  of  the  last  Confederate 
position  Semmes  brought  up  the  Diana,  whose  inju 
ries  of  the  day  before  he  had  during  the  night  partly 
made  good  by  repairs.  Her  3O-pounder  Parrott  now 
opened  a  slow  fire  without  great  effect  other  than  to 
add  to  Grover's  caution. 

Shortly  after  eight  o'clock  Mouton  rode  up.  To 
him  Taylor  turned  over  the  command  of  the  force 
confronting  Grover,  and  then  rode  into  Franklin  to 
direct  the  retreat.  By  half-past  nine  Green  with 
the  rear-guard  moved  out  on  the  direct  road  toward 


IRISH  BEND.  115 

New  Iberia.  The  last  of  Green's  troopers  had  not 
quitted  the  little  town  at  the  upper  end  when  the  first 
of  Weitzel's  entered  at  the  lower  end. 

Some  time  passed  before  Mouton  knew  of  this. 
Then  for  a  brief  space  his  peril  was  great ;  but  for 
tunately  for  him  the  unlooked-for  situation  of  affairs 
raised  a  momentary  doubt  in  the  minds  of  Green's 
pursuers.  Should  they  go  to  the  right  or  to  the  left  ? 
And  where  was  Grover?  After  questioning  prisoners 
and  towns-people,  Banks  directed  Weitzel  to  fol 
low  by  the  cut-off  road  and  Emory  to  move  up  the 
bayou.  The  interval,  short  as  it  was,  enabled  Mou 
ton  to  fall  back  quickly,  and  taking  a  by-way  across 
country  to  strike  into  the  cut-off  road  beyond  the 
northern  outskirts  of  Franklin.  Not  an  instant  too 
soon,  for  in  the  confusion  Sibley  had  fired  the  bridge 
over  the  Choupique  and  across  the  blazing  timbers 
lay  Mouton's  last  hope  of  escape.  Hardly  had  his 
men  reached  the  north  bank  in  safety  when  Weitzel's 
advance  guard  came  in  sight  down  the  road.  They 
galloped  to  the  bridge  only  to  find  it  impassable. 

Before  retiring  the  Confederates  blew  up  the  Diana 
and  applied  the  match  to  all  their  transport  steamers 
on  the  Teche  save  the  hospital  boat,  the  Cornie, 
which  loaded  with  the  sick  and  wounded  of  Bisland 
fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Union  forces.  Captain 
Semmes,  who  had  but  the  day  before  left  his  battery 
to  command  the  Diana,  was  taken  prisoner,  with  all 
his  crew.  He  and  Weitzel  had  been  friends  and 
classmates  at  West  Point ;  he  now  refused  the  offered 
courtesies  of  his  captor,  and  a  few  hours  later,  finding 
himself  rather  loosely  guarded,  cleverly  managed  to 
regain  his  liberty. 

To  return  to  Grover.     The  situation  of  the  enemy's 


u6  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

force  in  his  front,  the  vigorous  resistance  encountered 
in  his  advance,  and  lastly,  the  information  gathered 
from  the  prisoners  he  had  taken,  had  convinced  him 
that  he  had  to  deal  with  Taylor's  whole  force,  save  a 
small  rear-guard,  and  that  Taylor  had  already  suc 
ceeded  in  passing  him,  so  that  it  was  no  longer  possi 
ble  to  cut  the  Confederate  line  of  retreat.  Indeed, 
Grover  seems  rather  to  have  thought  that  Taylor 
meant  to  attack  him.  It  was  while  careful  reconnois- 
sances  were  being  conducted  to  develop  the  true  facts 
that  Taylor  slipped  away,  as  we  have  seen,  having 
thus  adroitly  extricated  himself  from  the  net  spread  in 
his  sight. 

About  two  o'clock,  however,  as  Taylor  did  not 
attack,  Grover  moved  fonvard,  and  as  he  marched 
down  the  bayou  road  soon  met  Emory  coming  up,  as 
related  in  the  last  chapter. 

Banks,  seeing  that  the  bridge  could  not  be  made 
passable  before  morning,  and  that  nothing  was  to  be 
gained  by  marching  his  tired  troops  over  the  long 
roundabout  of  the  bayou  road,  went  into  bivouac  early 
in  the  afternoon,  covering  the  northern  approaches 
of  Franklin.  Grover  occupied  his  battle-field  of  the 
morning,  Emory  held  the  bayou  road  between  Grover 
and  the  town,  and  Weitzel  the  cut-off  road. 

Taylor  crossed  the  Cypremort  and  having  marched 
fifteen  miles  since  quitting  Franklin,  or  twenty-five 
since  midnight,  rested  near  Jeannerette. 

Grover  reported  his  loss  during  the  i3th,  i4th,  and 
1 7th  as  53  killed,  270  wounded,  and  30  captured  or 
missing  ;  in  all  353.  In  the  battle  of  Irish  Bend,  ac 
cording  to  the  nominal  lists  as  compiled  in  the  Official 
Records,  his  loss  was  6  officers  and  43  men  killed,  1 7 
officers  and  257  men  wounded,  and  30  men  missing; 


IRISH  BEND,  117 

in  all  353  ;  agreeing  with  the  first  statement  covering 
the  three  days,  yet  differing  slightly  in  the  details. 
Of  this  total  Dwight's  brigade  lost  3  killed  and  9 
wounded  on  the  i3th,  i  killed  and  5  wounded  on  the 
1 7th,  and  only  2  killed  and  1 3  wounded  in  the  battle. 
Both  statements  seem  to  leave  out  the  ist  Louisiana, 
which  had  2  men  killed  and  the  lieutenant-colonel  and 
2  men  wounded  on  the  I3th.  In  Birge's  brigade  the 
loss  in  the  battle,  according  to  Grover's  report,  was  46 
killed,  2 36 wounded,  49  missing;  in  all  312.  The  official 
reports  show  16  less  in  the  columns  of  wounded  and  in 
the  total :  these  are  probably  the  16  wounded  officers 
accounted  for  in  the  nominal  lists.  Of  the  regiments 
engaged  the  heaviest  loss  fell  upon  the  i59th  New 
York,  in  which  the  nominal  lists  show  4  officers  and 
15  men  killed,  5  officers  and  73  men  wounded,  and 
20  men  captured  or  missing;  in  all  117.'  But  this 
fine  regiment  suffered  even  more  severely  than  these 
figures  indicate,  for  besides  having  to  mourn  the  death 
of  the  gallant  and  promising  Draper,  Molineux  re 
ceived  a  grievous  wound  that  for  many  weeks  deprived 
the  regiment  of  one  of  the  best  colonels  in  the  service, 
while  of  the  wounded  officers  two  were  mortally  hurt 
and  died  soon  afterward.  Birge's  loss  was  nearly  one 
man  in  four  or  five,  for  his  strength  did  not  exceed 
1,500,  and  it  is  probable  that  his  fighting  line  num 
bered  not  more  than  1,200. 

Th£  Confederate  loss  is  not  reported.  They  left 
on  the  field,  to  be  cared  for  by  their  adversary,  2 1  of 
their  dead  and  35  of  their  wounded.  Among  these 
were  Gray,  Vincent,  and  Reily. 

Taylor  gives  the  number  of  his  infantry  engaged 

1  According  to  the  regimental  history  (MS.),  4  officers  and  22  men  killed  ;  5 
officers  and  76  men  wounded  ;  n  men  missing;  in  all,  118  :  of  the  wounded, 
2  officers  and  10  men  mortally. 


u8  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

in  the  charge  on  Birge's  right  as  less  than  1,000. 
The  disparity  of  the  opposing  forces  in  that  affair 
was,  therefore,  not  important,  and  Birge's  somewhat 
greater  numbers  may  fairly  be  considered  as  off-set 
by  the  advantages  of  Taylor's  position  and  the  famil 
iarity  with  the  country  common  to  nearly  all  the 
Confederate  soldiers  there  engaged,  while  to  their 
antagonists  it  was  an  unknown  land.  Grover' s  whole 
force  was  about  5,000,  of  all  arms,  but  of  these, 
though  all  are  to  be  taken  into  account,  nearly  a 
third  were  in  reserve,  neither  firing  nor  under  fire, 
while  another  third  met  a  resistance  so  light  that  its 
loss  was  no  more  than  one  per  cent,  of  its  numbers — 
hardly  more  than  it  had  suffered  in  the  skirmishes  of 
the  day  before.  Grover  had  eighteen  pieces  of  artil 
lery,  of  which  but  four  were  in  action  ;  Taylor  also 
had  four  guns  of  which  he  made  good  use,  and  these, 
toward  the  close  of  the  battle,  were  reinforced  by  the 
five  heavy  guns  of  the  Diana,  of  which,  however,  it 
is  probable  that  but  one,  or  at  most  two,  could  be 
brought  to  bear. 

The  field  of  battle  was  so  contracted  that  Taylor's 
strength  sufficed  to  occupy  its  front,  while  Grover  was 
hindered  or  prevented  from  deploying  a  force  large 
enough  to  outflank  and  crush  his  antagonist  at  a  blow. 

Viewed  from  a  Confederate  standpoint,  the  issue 
forms  an  instructive  example  of  the  great  results  that 
may  be  achieved  by  a  right  use  of  small  forces.  If, 
on  the  other  hand,  one  turns  to  consider  the  lost 
opportunity  of  Grover,  two  things  stand  out  in  strong 
relief :  the  one,  the  positive  disadvantage  of  employ 
ing  forces  too  large  for  the  affair  in  hand  or  for  the 
scene  of  operations ;  the  other,  that  bold  adventures 
must  be  carried  boldly  to  the  end. 


IRISH  BEND.  119 

Instead  of  making  the  campaign  with  four  brigades 
and  twenty-four  guns,  as  Weitzel's  original  plan  had 
contemplated,  Banks,  for  greater  security,  set  out  with 
seven  brigades  and  fifty-six  guns.  So  far  as  concerned 
the  main  body  ascending  the  Teche,  this  excess  of 
strength  could  do  no  harm,  but  it  was  otherwise  with 
the  turning  column  by  the  lake  ;  for  to  the  needless 
augmentation  of  the  artillery  were  directly  due  not  only 
the  day  and  night  first  lost,  but  also  the  still  more  pre 
cious  hours  of  daylight  consumed  in  landing  guns  that 
were  not  to  fire  a  shot.  Two  brigades  of  infantry,  with 
six  guns  at  most,  landing  at  Indian  Bend,  and  march 
ing  directly  toward  the  Cypremort,  and  quickly  en 
trenching  across  both  roads  at  or  near  their  upper  fork, 
would  have  been  enough  to  hold  the  position  against 
the  best  efforts  of  the  whole  of  Taylor's  army,  with 
Emory  close  on  their  heels  ;  and  thus  Taylor  must 
have  been  lost  and  the  war  in  Western  Louisiana 
brought  to  an  end.  Consequences  many  and  far- 
reaching  would  have  followed.  Moreover,  when  it 
was  determined  to  use  more  than  two  divisions  one 
of  these  was  naturally  Grover's,  and  thus  it  happened 
that  to  Grover,  who  knew  nothing  of  the  country, 
was  assigned  the  delicate  duty  first  cut  out  for  Weit- 
zel,  while  Weitzel,  who  had  studied  to  the  last  point 
every  detail  of  the  topography  and  of  the  plan,  stayed 
behind  as  the  third  in  command  of  the  column  des 
tined  to  butt  its  nose  against  the  breastworks  of  Bis- 
land  and  wait  for  the  real  work  to  be  done  a  day's 
march  on  their  farther  side. 

Grover  has  been  often  criticised  and  much  misun 
derstood  for  alleged  over-caution  and  for  taking  the 
wrong  direction  after  quitting  the  borders  of  the  lake. 
Both  criticisms  are  unjust.  Generals,  like  other  men, 


120          THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

act  according  to  their  temperaments.  In  the  whole 
war  no  braver  man  than  Grover  ever  rode  at  the 
head  of  a  division,  nor  any  more  zealous,  more  alert, 
more  untiring  in  his  duty.  No  troops  of  his  ever 
went  into  battle  but  he  was  with  them.  But  he  was 
by  nature  cautious,  and  the  adventure  was  essentially 
one  that  called  for  boldness.  Moreover,  he  was  by 
nature  conscientious.  That  his  orders,  based  as  they 
were  on  misinformation  of  a  date  much  later  than 
Weitzel's  intelligence,  required  him  to  land  at  Irish 
Bend  instead  of  at  Indian  Bend,  as  first  arranged, 
and  to  march  on  Franklin  instead  of  toward  the 
Cypremort,  was  not  his  affair.  Surely  no  soldier  is 
to  be  blamed,  least  of  all  in  combined  and  complex 
operations,  for  choosing  to  obey  the  clearly  expressed 
orders  of  those  set  over  him,  rather  than  to  follow  the 
illusory  inspirations  of  the  will-o'-the-wisp  commonly 
mistaken  for  genius. 

As  for  the  orders  themselves,  they  were  correct 
upon  the  information  at  hand  when  they  were  given 
and  the  state  of  affairs  then  existing.  To  land  at 
Madame  Porter's  and  to  seize  the  roads  at  Franklin 
was  better  than  to  go  farther  afield  to  gain  the  same 
end  ;  for  the  distance  was  less,  and  while  on  the 
march  Grover  was  enabled  to  offer  his  front  instead  of 
his  flank  to  the  enemy.  But  the  information  proved 
inexact ;  when  Madame  Porter's  road  was  tried  it 
was  found  impassable,  and  with  this  and  the  unfore 
seen  delays  it  happened  that  the  orders  became  in 
applicable. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

OPELOUSAS. 

COOKE,  after  detaching  the  Clifton  to  go  up  the 
Teche  after  the  Diana,  as  already  related,  remained 
at  anchor  in  Grand  Lake  opposite  Grover's  landing- 
place  and  awaited  developments.  He  had  not  long 
to  wait.  The  first  news  of  Banks's  movement  across 
Berwick  Bay  had  overtaken  and  recalled  Taylor  on 
his  way  up  the  Atchafalaya  to  bring  down  the  Queen 
of  the  West  and  her  consorts,  the  Grand  Duke  and 
Mary  T,  to  join  in  the  intended  operations  against 
Weitzel.  Although  Taylor  at  once  sent  a  staff  officer 
to  urge  despatch,  yet  from  some  cause  more  than  two 
full  days  had  passed  before,  on  the  afternoon  of  the 
1 3th,  the  distant  smoke  of  the  Confederate  gun-boats 
coming  down  Lake  Chicot  was  seen  by  the  lookouts  of 
the  Union  navy  in  Grand  Lake.  At  daylight  the  Queen 
of  the  West  and  the  Mary  T,  were  seen  approaching 
from  Chicot  Pass.  Cooke  at  once  got  the  Estrella, 
Calhoim,  and  Arizona  under  way,  opened  fire  at  long 
range,  and  forming  his  boats  in  a  crescent  began  to 
close  with  the  enemy.  Soon,  however,  the  Queen  of 
the  West  was  seen  to  be  in  flames,  from  the  explosion 
of  the  Union  shells,  and,  her  consort  having  promptly 
taken  to  flight,  Cooke  ceased  firing  and  lowered  all 
his  boats  to  save  the  crew  of  the  burning  vessel  from 
drowning.  Captain  Fuller,  who  had  formerly  com- 


121 


122  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

manded  the  Cotton,  was  rescued  with  90  of  his  men, 
but  nearly  30  were  lost.  Then  with  a  loud  explosion 
the  eventful  career  of  the  Queen  of  the  West  came  to 
an  end,  leaving  her  five  guns,  however,  once  more  in 
the  hands  of  the  Union  navy.  This  fortunate  stroke 
gave  the  mastery  of  the  Atchafalaya  into  Cooke's 
hands  with  nothing  save  Butte-a-la-Rose  and  two 
feeble  gunboats  to  hinder  his  taking  possession. 

Once  safely  across  the  Cypremort,  Taylor's  army 
began  to  melt  away  and  his  men,  as  they  passed  their 
homes,  to  fall  out  without  hindrance.  Many  were  of 
the  simple  class  called  Acadians,  with  scant  sympa 
thy  for  either  side  of  the  great  war  into  which  they 
found  themselves  drawn,  and  in  all  the  regiments  there 
were  many  conscripts. 

On  the  1 5th  of  April,  Taylor  marched  ten  miles  to 
New  Iberia.  While  there,  he  had  the  unfinished 
ironclad  gunboat  Stevens,  previously  known  as  the 
Hart,  floated  two  miles  down  the  Teche,  destroyed 
by  fire,  and  the  wreck  sunk  in  the  channel. 

On  the  1 6th  he  marched  twenty  miles,  crossed  the 
Vermilion  River,  went  into  camp  on  the  high  ground 
on  the  north  bank,  and  burned  the  bridges  behind 
him. 

Early  in  the  morning  of  the  I5th  of  April,  Banks 
took  up  the  pursuit  with  his  united  force,  now  out 
numbering  Taylor's  as  three  to  one.  Weitzel  led  the 
advance  of  the  main  column  on  the  direct  road. 
Emory  followed  him,  and  Grover  marching  at  first  on 
the  bayou  road  fell  in  the  rear  after  passing  the  fork. 
The  army  halted  for  the  night  at  Jeannerette. 

On  the  following  afternoon  Banks  entered  New 
Iberia.  Here  the  ways  parted,  the  right-hand  road 
by  Saint  Martinsville  following  for  many  miles  the 


OPELOUSAS.  123 

windings  of  the  Teche,  while  the  left-hand  road  leads 
almost  directly  to  Opelousas,  by  way  of  Vermilion- 
ville,  now  called  Lafayette. 

Beyond  Indian  Bend  the  lowlands,  in  many  places 
below  and  nowhere  much  above  the  level  of  the 
adjacent  waters,  may  be  said  to  end  and  the  plains  to 
begin  ;  and  soon  after  leaving  New  Iberia  and  Saint 
Martinsville  the  troops  found  themselves  on  the 
broad  prairies  of  Western  Louisiana,  where  the  rich 
grasses  that  flourish  in  the  light  soil  sustain  almost  in 
a  wild  state  vast  herds  of  small  yet  fat  beeves  and  of 
small  yet  strong  horses ;  where  in  favored  spots  the 
cotton  plant  is  cultivated  to  advantage  ;  where  the 
ground,  gently  undulating,  gradually  rises  as  one 
travels  northward  ;  where  the  streams  become  small 
rivers  that  drain  the  land  upon  their  borders,  instead 
of  merely  bayous  taking  the  back  waters  of  the 
Mississippi  and  the  Red.  Near  the  right  bank  of 
the  Teche  runs  even  a  narrow  ribbon  of  bluffs  that 
may  be  said  to  form  the  western  margin  of  the  great 
swamps  of  the  Atchafalaya.  Along  the  streams  live- 
oaks,  magnolias,  pecans,  and  other  trees  grow  luxuri 
antly  ;  but,  for  the  most  part,  the  prairies  are  open 
to  the  horizon,  and  at  this  time,  though  the  gin-houses 
were  full  of  cotton,  the  fields  were  mainly  given  over 
to  the  raising  of  corn  for  the  armies  and  the  people 
of  the  Confederacy. 

From  New  Iberia  Banks  ordered  Grover  to  send  a 
detachment  to  destroy  the  famous  Avery  salt-works, 
on  Petit  Anse  Island,  distant  about  twelve  miles  toward 
the  southwest.  On  the  1 7th  of  April,  Grover  accord 
ingly  despatched  Kimball  on  this  errand,  with  his 
1 2th  Maine,  the  41  st  Massachusetts,  one  company  of 
the  24th  Connecticut,  and  Snow's  section  of  Nims's 


124  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

battery.  This  extremely  rich  natural  deposit  of  rock 
salt  was,  at  that  time,  in  the  hands  of  the  Confederate 
government,  being,  indeed,  the  main  source  of  supply 
of  this  indispensable  article  for  the  whole  Confederacy, 
especially  for  the  region  between  the  Mississippi  and 
the  Atlantic.  The  works  required  for  its  extraction 
are,  however,  very  simple,  for  the  deposit  lies  close  to 
the  surface,  and  has  only  to  be  quarried  in  blocks  of 
convenient  size.  These,  always  as  clear  and  beautiful 
as  crystal,  have  only  to  be  crushed  or  broken  to  be 
ready  for  use  for  common  purposes,  and  when  pul 
verized,  however  rudely,  yield  the  finest  table  salt. 
Kimball  burned  all  the  buildings,  destroyed  the 
engines  and  implements,  with  six  hundred  barrels 
of  salt,  and  marched  back  to  New  Iberia,  and,  on  the 
1 9th,  rejoined  Grover  on  the  Vermilion.  The  Con 
federates  having  drawn  off  the  detachment  and  the 
guns  previously  posted  to  guard  the  works,  Kimball 
met  with  no  opposition. 

On  the  1 7th  of  April,  Grover,  with  the  main  body 
of  his  division,  reinforced  by  Gooding's  brigade,  tem 
porarily  commanded  by  Colonel  John  W.  Kimball,  of 
the  53d  Massachusetts,  continued  the  pursuit  toward 
Vermilion,  while  Banks,  with  Weitzel  and  Emory, 
marched  to  Saint  Martinsville,  on  the  Teche. 

Early  in  the  afternoon  Grover  caught  sight  of 
Green's  rear-guard  of  Taylor's  retreating  forces,  then 
about  two  miles  distant,  and  in  the  act  of  crossing 
the  Vermilion.  Before  Grover  could  overtake  them, 
the  bridges  were  in  flames.  Dwight's  skirmishers 
deployed  on  the  right  and  left  of  the  road,  and,  with 
the  help  of  the  guns  of  Closson  and  N'ims,  drove  off 
the  enemy,  posted  to  hinder  or  prevent  the  work  of 
reconstruction.  In  this  affair  D wight  lost  one  killed 


OPELOUSAS.  125 

and  five  wounded.  The  next  day,  the  iSth  of  April, 
was  spent  by  Grover  in  rebuilding  the  main  bridge. 

Then  began  to  be  felt  the  need  of  such  a  force  of 
mounted  troops  as  on  these  plains  formed  the  main 
strength  of  Taylor's  little  army,  and  the  source  of  its 
safety ;  for  Banks's  cavalry,  taken  as  a  whole,  with 
some  splendid  exceptions,  was  at  this  time  greatly 
inferior,  not  only  in  numbers  but  in  fitness  for  the 
work  in  hand,  to  the  rough  riders  led  by  the  restless 
and  indomitable  Green.  A  few  more  horsemen,  under 
leaders  like  Barrett,  Williamson,  and  Perkins,  would 
have  saved  the  bridge  and  insured  the  dispersion  or 
the  destruction  of  Taylor's  force. 

Weitzel,  who,  as  far  as  Saint  Martinsville,  had  led 
the  advance  of  the  main  column,  followed  by  Emory 
with  Paine  and  Ingraham,  there  took  the  road  to  the 
left  and  halted  on  the  evening  of  the  1 7th  of  April 
at  Cote  Gelee,  four  miles  in  the  rear  of  Grover.  The 
next  morning  Weitzel  moved  up  to  Grover's  support, 
while  Banks,  with  Emory,  rested  at  Cote  Gelee  to 
await  the  rebuilding  of  the  bridge. 

From  St.  Martinsville,  Emory  sent  the  1 73d  New 
York,  under  Major  Gallway,  with  Norris's  section  of 
Duryea's  battery,  to  follow  the  Teche  road  to  Breaux 
Bridge  and  endeavor  to  capture  the  bayou  steamboats, 
five  in  number,  that  were  still  left  to  the  Confederates. 
Five  miles  below  the  village  of  that  name,  Gallway 
met  a  small  Confederate  picket,  and  pushing  it  aside, 
soon  afterward  found  the  bridge  over  the  bayou  in 
flames.  On  the  morning  of  the  i8th  he  learned  that 
four  of  the  boats  had  been  burned  by  the  Confeder 
ates,  and  about  the  same  time  his  farther  advance 
was  stopped  by  orders  from  Banks,  despatched  as 
soon  as  it  was  known  that  Grover  had  been  brought 


126  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

to  a  stand.  A  courier  from  headquarters  having  lost 
his  way  in  the  night  of  the  i8th,  on  the  following 
morning  Gallway  found  himself  in  the  air  without 
any  apparent  object.  He  accordingly  marched  along 
the  banks  of  the  Teche  and  the  Bayou  Fusilier,  and 
taking  the  road  to  Opelousas,  there  rejoined  Paine 
on  the  2 1  st. 

On  the  i  Qth  of  April  the  army  crossed  the  Ver 
milion  and  the  Carencro,  and  marched  unopposed 
sixteen  miles  over  the  prairie  to  Grand  Coteau. 
Gooding's  brigade  rejoined  Emory  during  the  day. 

On  the  2Oth  the  march  was  continued  about  eight 
miles  to  Opelousas.  Just  outside  the  town  the  Corps 
went  into  bivouac,  after  throwing  forward  all  the  cav 
alry,  the  1 3th  Connecticut,  and  a  section  of  Rodgers's 
battery,  to  Washington,  on  the  Courtableau. 

On  the  same  day,  after  a  brief  engagement,  Cooke, 
with  the  gunboats  Estrella,  Arizona,  and  Calhoun, 
and  a  detachment  of  four  companies  of  the  i6th  New 
Hampshire  from  Brashear,  captured  Fort  Burton  at 
Butte-a-la-Rose,  with  its  garrison  of  60  men  of  the 
Crescent  regiment  and  its  armament  of  two  32-pound- 
ers  ;  thus  at  last  gaining  the  complete  control  of  the 
Atchafalaya,  and  at  the  same  time  opening  communi 
cation  with  Banks  by  way  of  Port  Barre  or  Barre's 
Landing  on  the  Courtableau,  distant  about  nine 
miles  northeasterly  from  Opelousas.  Then  Cooke 
steamed  up  the  Atchafalaya  to  make  his  report  to 
Farragut,  lying  in  the  Mississippi  off  the  mouth  of 
the  Red  River,  and  to  seek  fresh  orders. 

At  the  outset  of  the  campaign  the  i6th  New  Hamp 
shire  had  been  detached  from  Ingraham's  brigade  of 
Emory  and  left  at  Brashear  to  guard  the  main  depots 
and  the  surplus  baggage.  After  the  battle  of  Bisland, 


OPELOUSAS.  127 

the  4th  Massachusetts  was  turned  back  to  Brashear 
to  relieve  the  i6th  New  Hampshire.  This  regiment 
having  assisted  in  the  capture  of  Butte-a-la-Rose,  now 
formed  the  garrison  of  that  desolate  and  deadly 
hummock. 

While  at  Opelousas  the  army  could  draw  its  sup 
plies  from  Brashear  by  the  Atchafalaya  and  the  Cour- 
tableau,  but  so  long  as  the  direction  of  the  future 
operations  remained  uncertain,  it  was  necessary  to 
keep  a  firm  hold  of  the  communications  by  the  Teche. 
Accordingly,  the  1 75th  New  York  took  post  at  Frank 
lin  and  the  22d  Maine  at  New  Iberia. 

On  the  22d  of  April  the  i62d  New  York,  under 
Blanchard,  with  a  section  of  the  ist  Maine  battery 
and  one  troop  of  the  2d  Rhode  Island  cavalry,  marched 
to  Barre's  Landing,  seized  the  position,  and  captured 
the  little  steamboat  Ellen,  the  last  of  the  Teche  fleet. 

On  the  23d  of  April  the  little  Cornie  arrived  at 
Barre's  Landing  from  the  depot  at  Brashear,  and  the 
next  day  the  first  wagon-train  came  into  camp  laden 
with  the  supplies  now  sadly  needed.  At  sight  of  the 
white-covered  wagons  winding  over  the  plain,  the 
men  gave  way  to  those  demonstrations  of  delight  so 
familiar  to  all  who  have  ever  seen  soldiers  rejoice. 
For  fifteen  days  they  had  been  subsisting  upon  an 
uncertain  issue  of  hard  bread,  coffee,  and  salt, 
eked  out  by  levies,  more  or  less  irregular,  upon  the 
countryside.  They  were  sick  of  chickens  and  corn- 
bread,  and  fairly  loathed  the  very  sight,  to  say  nothing 
of  the  smell,  of  fresh-killed  beef  ;  tough  at  best,  even 
in  the  heart  of  the  tenderloin,  the  flesh  had  to  be 
eaten  with  the  odor  and  the  warmth  of  the  blood  still 
in  it,  under  penalty  of  finding  it  fly-blown  before  the 
next  meal.  Thus  it  was  that,  as  Paine  relates  in  his 


128  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

Diary,  the  men  now  "  howled  for  salt  pork  and  hard 
tack." 

Although  the  army  had  now  a  double  line  of  com 
munication  with  its  base,  yet  the  long  haul  from  New 
Iberia  and  the  scarcity  of  light-draught  steamboats 
adapted  to  the  navigation  of  the  narrow  and  tortuous 
bayous  made  the  task  of  supplying  even  the  urgent 
wants  of  the  troops  both  tedious  and  difficult.  The 
herds  near  Opelousas  were  fast  disappearing  under 
the  ravages  of  the  foragers,  authorized  and  unauthor 
ized,  yet  had  it  not  been  for  the  beef  obtained  from 
this  source  and  for  the  abundant  grass  of  the  prairie 
men  and  horses  must  soon  have  suffered  greatly. 

On  the  24th  of  April,  Banks  reviewed  his  army  in 
the  open  plain,  near  Opelousas.  The  troops,  not  as 
yet  inured  to  the  long  and  hard  marches,  were  indeed 
greatly  diminished  in  numbers  by  the  unaccustomed 
toil  and  exposure,  as  well  as  by  the  casualties  of 
battle  and  the  enervating  effects  of  the  climate,  yet 
they  presented  a  fine  appearance,  and  were  in  the 
best  of  spirits. 

On  learning  of  Cooke's  success  at  Butte-a-la-Rose, 
Banks  detached  Dwight,  posted  him  at  Washington 
in  observation,  and  placed  Grover  with  his  remaining 
brigades  at  Barre's  Landing,  to  secure  the  depots, 
while  Emory  and  Weitzel  covered  Opelousas. 

Having  by  burning  the  Vermilion  bridge  gained  a 
day's  rest  for  his  tired  soldiers,  Taylor  resumed  the 
retreat  at  noon  on  the  i7th  of  April,  and  passing 
through  Opelousas  and  Washington  on  the  i8th  and 
i  gth,  on  the  following  day  found  himself  with  all  his 
trains  behind  the  Cocodrie  and  the  Bceuf.  On  the 
2Oth  he  sent  Mouton,  with  all  the  cavalry  except 
Waller's  battalion,  westward  over  the  prairie  toward 


OPELOUSAS.  129 

Niblett's  Bluff,  on  the  Sabine.  Then,  with  Waller 
and  the  frayed  remnant  of  the  infantry,  day  by  day 
wearing  away  at  the  edges,  Taylor  continued  his  re 
treat  toward  Alexandria,  halting  with  what  may  be 
called  his  main  body  at  Lecompte.  To  hinder  the 
pursuit  he  burned  the  bridges  over  the  Bayou  Coco- 
drie  and  the  Bayou  Bceuf. 

Opelousas,  miles  away  from  every  thing,  in  the 
heart  of  a  vast  prairie,  presented  in  itself  no  object 
for  an  invading  army.  Even  the  temptation  of  a 
good  position  was  wanting. 

Banks  meant  merely  to  halt  there  a  day  or  two  for 
rest,  and  then,  if  it  should  be  found  practicable  to 
obtain  the  necessary  supplies,  to  push  on  rapidly  to 
Alexandria,  and  dispose  for  the  season  of  Taylor's 
disordered  fragments.  Whether  this  could  have  been 
done  will  never  be  known,  for  although  the  army  had 
now  far  outmarched  its  supplies,  and  even  from  its 
secondary  base  at  Brashear  was  separated  by  nearly 
a  hundred  miles,  and  although  the  campaign  had  so 
far  been  made  upon  less  than  half  the  regular  rations 
for  men  and  animals,  supplemented  from  farm,  sugar- 
house,  and  prairie,  the  country  on  the  line  of  march 
was  no  longer  to  be  counted  on  for  any  thing  save 
sugar  in  plenty  and  a  little  corn  ;  nevertheless,  it  might 
have  been  possible,  by  great  exertions,  to  replenish  the 
trains  and  depots,  as  well  as  to  fill  up  the  haversacks. 
Moreover,  a  three  days'  march  would  find  the  army 
on  the  banks  of  the  Red  River,  with  a  new  and  ample 
source  of  supply  open  to  them,  and  within  easy  reach 
of  Grant,  provided  only  the  navy  might  be  counted 
upon  to  control  the  waters  of  that  stream  and  its 
larger  tributaries.  Of  this  Banks  had  no  doubt  what 
ever.  To  open  communication  with  Grant  and  to 


130  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

dispose  of  Taylor  had  been  the  chief  ends  that  Banks 
had  proposed  to  himself  in  setting  out  on  the  cam 
paign.  These  ends  he  now  held  almost  in  his  hand. 
But  on  the  2ist  of  April  an  event  occurred  that,  slight 
as  was  its  apparent  importance,  was  destined,  in  its 
train  of  consequences,  vitally  to  affect  the  operations 
of  the  Army  of  the  Gulf. 

This  was  the  arrival  at  headquarters  of  Lieutenant 
Joseph  T.  Tenney,  one  of  Dudley's  aides-de-camp, 
who  had  been  sent  by  Augur  to  find  Banks,  where- 
ever  he  might  be.  With  him  Tenney  brought  impor 
tant  despatches  from  Grant  and  Farragut.  What  the 
contents  were  and  what  came  of  them  will  be  related 
in  the  next  chapter. 

From  Opelousas  Bean,  with  the  4th  Wisconsin,  a 
section  of  Duryea's  battery,  and  a  squadron  of  the 
2d  Rhode  Island  cavalry,  went  a  day's  march  toward 
the  southwest,  to  the  crossing  of  the  Plaquemine 
Brule,  and  discovered  that  Mouton  was  retreating  be 
yond  the  Mermentau.  From  Washington,  Dwight 
moved  out  twenty  miles  along  the  Bayou  Bceuf  to 
Satcham's  plantation  without  finding  the  enemy  in 
force.  After  learning  these  things,  on  the  25th  of 
April,  Banks  turned  over  the  command  of  the  forces  to 
Emory  and  went  to  New  Orleans  to  give  his  attention 
to  affairs  of  urgency,  chiefly  affecting  the  civil  ad 
ministration  of  the  department.  He  returned  to  head 
quarters  in  the  field  on  the  evening  of  the  ist  of  May. 

Meanwhile  Emory  sent  Paine,  who,  when  crossing 
the  Carencro,  had  seen  the  last  of  the  Confederates 
disappearing  in  the  distance,  with  his  brigade  and  a 
section  of  Duryea's  battery  far  out  on  the  Plaquemine 
Brule  road,  in  order  to  find  and  disperse  some  cavalry, 
vaguely  reported  to  be  moving  about  somewhere  in 


OPELOUSAS.  131 

that  quarter,  a  constant  menace  to  the  long  trains 
from  New  Iberia.  In  fact  Mouton,  with  the  Texans, 
was  now  on  the  prairie,  beyond  the  Calcasieu  eighty 
miles  away,  in  good  position  to  retreat  to  Texas 
or  to  hang  on  the  flank  and  rear  of  the  Union 
army,  as  circumstances  might  suggest.  On  the  26th 
of  April  Paine  marched  sixteen  miles  to  the  Plaque- 
mine  Brule,  and  on  the  following  day  sent  four  com 
panies  on  horseback  twenty  miles  farther  toward  the 
southwest  across  Bayou  Queue  de  Tortue,  and  another 
detachment  to  Bayou  Mallet  to  reconnoitre.  Seeing 
nothing  of  the  enemy,  on  the  28th  Paine  rejoined  his 
division  and  resumed  the  command  of  it  at  Opelousas. 
Some  time  before  this  orders  had  been  given  to  mount 
the  4th  Wisconsin,  and  when  the  army  finally  marched 
from  Opelousas  this  capital  regiment  made  its  ap 
pearance  in  the  new  role  of  mounted  infantry.  To  say 
nothing  of  the  equipments,  a  wide  divergence  in  the 
size,  color,  and  quality  of  the  horses,  hastily  gathered 
from  the  four  quarters  of  the  prairie,  gave  to  these  im 
provised  dragoons  rather  a  ludicrous  appearance  it 
must  be  confessed  ;  yet  marching  afoot  or  standing  to 
horse,  the  4th  Wisconsin  was  always  ready  and  equal 
to  the  work  cut  out  for  it. 

From  his  advanced  camp,  on  Shields's  plantation, 
twenty-three  miles  beyond  Washington  and  twenty- 
nine  from  Opelousas,  Dwight  fell  back  on  the  28th 
of  April  to  his  bivouac  at  Washington  and  waited  for 
the  movement  of  the  army  to  begin. 

In  preparation  for  this,  on  the  evening  of  the  ist  of 
May,  Bean,  with  the  4th  Wisconsin,  mounted,  was  sent 
forward  to  join  the  main  body  of  the  cavalry,  under 
Major  Robinson,  in  front  of  Washington.  That 
night  Dwight,  with  the  cavalry,  his  own  brigade, 


132  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

and  a  section  of  Nims's  battery,  marched  out  some 
distance  to  discover  the  position  of  the  Confederate 
outposts.  These,  in  the  interval  that  elapsed,  had  been 
advanced  to  the  junction  of  the  Cocodrie  and  the 
Boeuf.  After  driving  them  in  Dwight  returned  the 
next  morning  to  Washington. 

The  advance  of  the  column  from  Franklin  to  Ope- 
lousas  had  been  disfigured  by  the  twin  evils  of  strag 
gling  and  marauding.  Before  the  campaign  opened, 
Banks  had  taken  the  precaution  to  issue  stringent 
orders  against  pillage,  yet  no  means  adequate  to  the 
enforcement  of  these  orders  were  provided,  and  the 
marches  were  so  long  and  rapid,  the  heat  at  times 
so  intense,  and  the  dust  so  intolerable,  that  compara 
tively  few  of  the  men  were  able  to  keep  up  with  the 
head  of  the  column.  This  contributed  greatly  to 
disorder  of  the  more  serious  kind.  One  regiment, 
neither  the  best  nor  the  worst,  halting  at  the  end 
of  a  particularly  hard  day's  march,  found  itself  with 
scarcely  fifty  men  in  the  ranks.  Then,  too,  the  men 
were  on  short  rations,  in  what  they  considered  the 
enemy's  country  ;  the  whole  region  was  sparsely  popu 
lated  ;  and  the  residents  had,  for  the  most  part,  fled 
from  their  homes  at  the  news  of  the  approach  of  the 
Union  army. 

With  these  disorders  there  sprang  up  a  third,  less 
prevalent  indeed,  but  to  the  last  degree  annoying  and 
not  without  its  share  of  danger,  for  when  the  straggler 
chanced  to  find  himself  in  easy  range  of  any  thing, 
from  a  steer  to  a  chicken,  that  he  happened  to  fancy 
for  his  supper,  he  was  not  always  careful  in  his  aim  or 
accurate  in  his  judgment  of  distance  ;  thus  a  number 
of  officers  and  men  were  wounded  and  the  lives  of 
many  put  in  peril. 


OPELOUSAS.  133 

As  if  to  complete  the  lesson  so  often  taught  in 
all  wars,  that  discipline,  care,  and  efficiency  go  hand 
in  hand,  when  the  army  moved  out  from  Opelousas, 
though  but  a  fortnight  later,  a  different  state  of 
things  was  seen.  This  must  be  ascribed  to  the  fact 
that  immediately  after  entering  Opelousas  the  most 
stringent  and  careful  orders  were  given  for  the  regu 
lation  of  future  marches,  and  the  punishment  of  strag 
glers  and  marauders.  By  these  orders  was  provided 
for  the  first  time  a  system  adequate  to  their  enforce 
ment,  and  sufficiently  elastic  to  meet  without  annoy 
ance  and  difficulty  all  those  cases,  of  hourly  and  even 
momentary  occurrence  in  the  movement  of  an  army, 
that  require  officers  or  men  to  quit  the  column.  In 
the  rear  of  each  regiment  was  posted  a  surgeon, 
without  whose  permission  no  sick  man  was  allowed 
to  fall  out.  In  the  rear  of  each  brigade  and  division 
marched  a  detachment  of  cavalry,  under  the  orders 
of  the  provost  marshal  of  the  brigade  or  division, 
charged  with  the  duty  of  picking  up  as  stragglers  all 
men  found  out  of  the  ranks  without  a  written  permit 
from  the  surgeon  or  the  company  commander.  The 
vital  importance  of  a  strict  enforcement  of  these 
arrangements  was  personally  impressed  upon  the 
division  and  brigade  commanders  ;  yet  this  was  not 
now  necessary,  for  there  were  but  few  persons  in  the 
column  of  any  rank  that  did  not  realize,  in  part  at 
least,  the  evil  consequences  resulting  from  the  irregu 
lar  practices  that  had  hitherto  prevailed.  Thus  the 
march  to  the  Red  River  was  made  rapidly  and  in 
order,  and  now  for  the  first  time  the  soldiers  of  the 
Nineteenth  Army  Corps  marched  with  that  swift  and 
regulated  movement  of  the  column  as  a  unit  that  was 
to  be  ever  afterwards  a  source  of  comfort  to  the  men, 


134  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

of  satisfaction  to  their  officers,  and  of  just  pride  to 
every  one  belonging  to  the  corps. 

Unhappily,  on  the  25th  of  April,  before  the  result 
of  these  arrangements  had  had  a  chance  to  show  them 
selves,  Dwight,  while  on  detached  service  in  the  ad 
vance,  caught  an  unfortunate  man  of  the  i3ist  New 
York,  Henry  Hamill  by  name,  absent  from  his  regi 
ment  under  circumstances  that  pointed  him  out  as 
a  plunderer.  Then,  without  pausing  to  communicate 
with  the  general  commanding,  Dwight  took  upon 
himself  the  task  of  trial  and  judgment  on  the  spot, 
and  becoming  satisfied  of  the  man's  guilt,  caused  him 
to  be  shot  to  death  at  sunset  in  front  of  the  brigade. 
This  action  Banks,  who  was  just  setting  out  for  New 
Orleans,  sustained  in  special  orders  as  soon  as  he  re 
turned.  Indeed,  between  this  course  and  the  instant 
delivery  of  Dwight  to  punishment,  Banks  had  practi 
cally  no  choice.  Nevertheless,  whatever  may  have 
been  the  excuse  or  how  extreme  the  provocation,  the 
act  was  altogether  wrong.  The  rules  and  articles  of 
war  lay  down  the  penal  code  of  armies  in  all  its  se 
verity,  in  terms  too  clear  to  be  misunderstood  and 
too  ample  to  warrant  an  attempt  on  the  part  of  any 
one  in  the  service,  however  exalted  his  rank,  to 
enlarge  or  evade  them.  The  offender  should  have 
been  tried  by  court-martial.  No  emergency  or  exi 
gency  existed  to  delay  the  assembling  of  the  court. 
Had  he  been  found  guilty,  his  death  might  swiftly 
have  followed.  Then  the  terrible  lesson  would  have 
been  impressive.  Then  none  would  have  thought  it 
hasty,  needless,  violent,  or  unlawful. 

As  it  was,  the  wretched  man's  punishment  fur 
nished  chiefly  matter  for  regret,  and  an  example  to 
be  avoided. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

BANKS  AND  GRANT. 

THE  first  effect  of  the  despatches  from  Grant  and 
Farragut,  referred  to  in  the  preceding  chapter,  was 
to  cause  Banks  to  reconsider  his  plan  of  campaign, 
and  to  put  the  direction  of  his  next  movement  in  sus 
pense.  While  waiting  for  fresh  advices  in  answer  to 
his  own  communications  and  proposals  Banks  halted, 
and  while  he  halted  Taylor  got  time  to  breathe  and 
Kirby  Smith  to  gather  new  strength. 

This  correspondence  has  been  so  much  discussed, 
yet  so  little  understood,  that,  chronology  being  an 
essential  part  of  history,  the  narrative  of  the  events 
now  at  hand  may  be  rendered  clearer,  if  we  turn  aside 
for  a  moment  to  consider  not  only  the  substance  of 
what  was  said  upon  both  sides,  but,  what  was  even 
more  important,  the  time  at  which  it  was  heard. 

Farragut's  letter,  written  from  the  Hartforddfoove 
Port  Hudson  on  the  6th  of  April,  was  the  first  com 
munication  Banks  had  received  from  Farragut,  save 
a  brief  verbal  message  brought  to  him  by  the  Admiral's 
secretary,  Mr.  E.  C.  Gabaudan,  on  the  loth  of  April, 
just  before  the  army  set  out  from  Brashear.  Mr. 
Gabaudan  had  come  straight  from  the  Admiral,  but 
without  anything  in  writing,  having  floated  past  Port 
Hudson  by  night  in  a  skiff  covered  with  twigs  so  as 
to  look  like  a  drift  log.  Farragut's  letter  gave  assur- 

135 


136  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

ance  of  the  complete  control  of  the  Red  River  and 
the  Atchafalaya  by  the  navy  of  the  Union. 

Grant's  despatch  bore  date  the  23d  of  March.  It 
was  the  first  writing  received  from  him.  It  conveyed 
the  answer  to  the  letter  addressed  to  him  by  Banks 
on  the  1 3th  of  March,  and  placed  in  the  hands  of 
Farragut  just  before  the  Hartford  ran  the  batteries 
of  Port  Hudson.  Thus  on  either  side  began  a  cor 
respondence  clearly  intended  by  both  commanders  to 
bring  about  an  effective  co-operation  between  the  two 
armies,  aided  by  the  combined  fleets  of  Farragut  and 
Porter.  Yet  in  the  end,  while  the  consequences  re 
mained  unfelt  in  the  Army  by  the  Tennessee,  upon 
the  Army  of  the  Gulf  the  practical  effect,  after  the 
first  period  of  delay  and  doubt,  was  to  cause  its  com 
mander  to  give  up  the  thought  of  moving  toward 
Grant  and  to  conform  all  his  movements  to  the  ex 
pectation  that  Grant  would  send  an  army  corps  to 
Bayou  Sara  to  join  in  reducing  Port  Hudson.  Thus, 
quite  apart  from  the  confusion  and  the  eventual  dis 
appointment,  much  valuable  time  was  lost  while  the 
matter  was  in  suspense  ;  and  so  was  demonstrated 
once  more  the  impossibility,  well  established  by  the 
history  of  war,  of  co-ordinating  the  operations  of  two 
armies  widely  separated,  having  different  objectives, 
while  an  enemy  strongly  holds  the  country  between 
them. 

When  Banks  wrote  his  despatch  of  the  I3th  of 
March,  he  was  at  Baton  Rouge,  about  to  demonstrate 
against  Port  Hudson.  When  Grant  received  this 
despatch  he  was  on  the  low  land  opposite  Vicksburg, 
with  the  rising  river  between  him  and  his  enemy, 
laboriously  seeking  a  practical  pathway  to  the  rear  of 
Vicksburg,  and  in  the  meantime  greatly  troubled  to 


BANKS  AND  GRANT.  137 

find  dry  ground  for  his  seventy  thousand  men  to  stand 
on.  Grant's  first  idea,  derived  from  Halleck's  de 
spatches,  was  that  Banks  should  join  him  before 
Vicksburg,  with  the  whole  available  force  of  the  Army 
of  the  Gulf.  When  he  learned  from  Banks  that  this 
would  be  out  of  the  question  so  long  as  Port  Hudson 
should  continue  to  be  held  by  the  Confederates, 
Grant  took  up  the  same  line  of  thought  that  had 
already  attracted  Banks,  and  began  to  meditate  a 
junction  by  the  Atchafalaya,  the  Red,  the  Tensas, 
and  the  Black  rivers.  What  Grant  then  needed  was 
not  more  troops,  but  standing-room  for  those  he  had. 
Accordingly,  he  began  by  preparing  to  send  twenty 
thousand  men  to  Banks,  when  the  Ohio  River  steamers 
he  had  asked  for  should  come.1  They  never  came, 
yet  even  after  he  had  embarked  upon  the  campaign, 
alike  sound  in  conception  and  splendid  in  execution, 
that  was  to  become  the  corner-stone  of  his  great  and 
solid  fame,  Grant  kept  to  his  purpose. 

On  the  1 4th  of  April  he  penned  this  brief  telegram 
to  Banks  : 

"  I  am  concentrating  my  forces  at  Grand  Gulf  ;  will  send  an 
army  corps  Bayou  Sara  by  the  25th,  to  co-operate  with  you  on 
Port  Hudson.  Can  you  aid  me  and  send  troops  after  the  reduc 
tion  of  Port  Hudson  to  assist  me  at  Vicksburg  ?  " 

This  message,  although  Banks  and  Grant  were 
then  only  about  two  hundred  miles  apart,  had  to 
travel  three  thousand  miles  to  reach  its  destination. 
Banks  received  it  just  before  marching  from  Opelousas 

' '  I  sent  several  weeks  ago  for  this  class  of  steamers,  and  expected  them  before 
this.  Should  they  arrive  and  Admiral  Porter  get  his  boats  out  of  the  Yazoo,  so 
as  to  accompany  the  expedition,  I  can  send  a  force  of  say  20,000  effective  men 
to  co-operate  with  General  Banks  on  Port  Hudson." — Grant  to  Farragut,  March 
23d  ;  received  by  Banks,  April  2ist.  The  cipher  message  that  followed  seemed 
to  Banks  a  confirmation  of  this. 


138  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

on  the  5th  of  May,  twenty-one  days  after  it  left 
Grant's  hands.  As  received,  the  message  was  in 
cipher  and  without  a  date.  As  the  prevailing  practice 
was,  in  conformity  with  the  orders  of  the  Secretary 
of  War,  the  only  persons  in  the  Department  of  the 
Gulf  who  held  the  key  to  the  cipher  were  the  Super 
intendent  of  Military  Telegraphs  and  such  of  his 
assistants  as  he  chose  to  trust,  and  Mr.  Bulkley  was 
at  New  Iberia,  where  the  wires  ended.  The  code 
employed  was  the  route  cipher  in  common  use  in  the 
service,  and  with  the  help  of  the  words  "  Bayou  "  and 
"  Sara"  as  guides  the  meaning  was  not  hard  to  make 
out.  Banks  did  not  trust  to  this,  however,  and  waited 
until,  late  at  night,  he  received  from  the  Superintendent 
an  official  translation,  still  without  date,  as  indeed 
was  the  original  document  received  at  headquarters 
from  New  Orleans.  The  25th  Banks  naturally  took 
to  mean  the  25th  of  May.  Grasping  eagerly  at  the 
first  real  chance  of  effective  co-operation,  he  at  once 
replied  :  "  By  the  25th  probably,  by  the  ist,  certainly, 
I  will  be  there."  This  despatch  was  not  in  cipher, 
because  he  had  no  code.  Captain  Crosby  carried  it  to 
the  Hartford  at  the  mouth  of  the  Red  River.  Cap 
tain  Palmer,  who  was  found  in  command,  the  Admiral 
having  crossed  Fausse  Point  and  joined  his  fleet  below, 
at  once  forwarded  the  despatch.  Near  Natchez 
Crosby  met  Captain  Differs  of  Grant's  staff  and  turned 
back  with  him  bringing  Grant's  despatch  of  the  loth 
of  May,  written  at  Rocky  Springs.  This  Banks  re 
ceived  at  Alexandria  on  the  I2th  of  May.  From  it 
he  learned  that  Grant  was  not  coming.  Having  met 
the  Confederates  after  landing  at  Grand  Gulf  and  fol 
lowed  on  their  heels  to  the  Big  Black,  he  could  not 
afford  to  retrace  his  steps  ;  but  he  urged  Banks  to 


BANKS  AND  GRANT.  139 

join  him  or  to  send  all  the  force  he  could  spare  "  to 
co-operate  in  the  great  struggle  for  opening  the  Mis 
sissippi  River."  The  reasons  thus  assigned  by  Grant 
for  his  change  of  mind  were  certainly  valid  ;  yet  it 
must  be  doubted  whether  in  these  hurried  lines  the 
whole  of  the  matter  is  set  forth,  for  three  weeks 
earlier,  on  the  igth  of  April,  five  days  after  the 
promise  to  send  an  army  corps  to  Bayou  Sara  by  the 
25th,  Grant  had  reported  to  Halleck  :  "  This  will  now 
be  impossible."  Moreover,  until  the  moment  when 
he  crossed  the  river  with  his  advance  on  the  3Oth 
of  April  he  not  only  held  firmly  to  his  intention  to 
send  the  twenty  thousand  men  to  join  Banks  at  Bayou 
Sara  as  soon  as  the  landing  should  have  been  secured, 
but  the  corps  for  this  service  had  been  designated ;  it 
was  to  be  made  up  of  the  main  body  of  McClernand's 
corps  and  McPherson's,  and  Grant  himself  meant  to 
go  with  it.  It  was  indeed  the  2d  of  May  when  Grant 
received  at  Port  Gibson  Banks's  despatch  sent  from 
Brashear  on  the  loth  of  April  indicating  his  purpose 
of  returning  to  Baton  Rouge  by  the  loth  of  May,  and 
although  Grant  also  attributes  to  this  despatch  the 
change  of  his  plans,  the  loth  of  May  had  already 
come  before  he  made  known  the  change  to  Banks. 

All  this  time  Banks  bore  with  him  Halleck's  in 
structions  of  the  Qth  of  November,  and  more  than 
once  studied  with  care  and  solicitude  these  significant 
words  :  "  As  the  ranking  general  in  the  Southwest 
you  are  authorized  to  assume  the  control  of  any 
military  force  from  the  upper  Mississippi  which  may 
come  within  your  command.  The  line  of  division 
between  your  department  and  that  of  Major-General 
Grant  is,  therefore,  left  undecided  for  the  present, 
and  you  will  exercise  superior  authority  as  far  north 


THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

as  you  may  ascend  the  river."  By  the  articles  of  war, 
without  these  words,  Banks  would  have  been  entitled 
to  the  command  they  gave  him,  but  the  words  showed 
him  plainly  what  was  expected  of  him  by  his  govern 
ment.  To  the  incentives  of  patriotism  and  duty  were 
thus  superadded  one  of  the  most  powerful  motives 
that  can  affect  the  mind  of  the  commander  of  an 
army, — the  hope  and  assurance  of  power  and  promo 
tion.  If,  then,  he  held  back  from  joining  Grant  in 
Mississippi,  it  was  because  he  hesitated  to  take  the 
extraordinary  risks  involved  in  the  movement.  In 
this  he  was  more  than  justified. 

Since  the  miscarriage  of  Sherman's  attempt  at  the 
beginning  of  the  year,  Grant  had  been  engaged  in  a 
series  of  tentative  efforts,  steadily  prosecuted  in  vari 
ous  directions,  yet  all  having  a  common  object,  the 
finding  of  a  foothold  of  dry  ground  for  a  decisive  move 
ment  against  Vicksburg.  Four  of  these  experimental 
operations  had  failed  completely,  and  Grant  was  now 
entering  upon  a  fifth,  destined  indeed  to  lead  to  a 
great  and  glorious  result,  yet  in  itself  conveying 
hardly  more  assurance  of  success  than  the  most 
promising  of  its  predecessors,  while  involving  perils 
greater  than  any  that  had  been  so  far  encountered. 
Of  these  the  greatest  danger  was  that  the  enemy, 
after  allowing  him  to  land  on  the  east  bank  of  the 
river  and  to  penetrate,  with  a  portion  of  his  army, 
into  the  heart  of  Mississippi,  might  then  concentrate 
all  the  available  forces  of  the  Confederacy  in  that 
region  and  fall  upon  him  with  vigor  at  the  moment 
when  his  supplies  should  be  exhausted  and  his 
communications  interrupted.  In  such  an  event  the 
fortune  of  war  might  have  rendered  it  imperative  for 
him  to  retire  down  the  river  ;  but  what  would  have 


BANKS  AND  GRANT.  141 

happened  then  if  Banks,  disregarding  Port  Hudson  in 
his  eagerness  to  join  Grant  before  Vicksburg,  should 
in  his  turn  have  abandoned  his  communications  ? 
Both  armies  would  have  been  caught  in  a  trap  of 
their  own  making,  whence  not  merit  but  some  rare 
stroke  of  luck  could  alone  have  rescued  either. 

In  the  strong  light  of  the  great  and  decisive  vic 
tory  of  Vicksburg,  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  reproduce, 
even  in  the  mind  of  the  most  attentive  reader,  the 
exact  state  of  affairs  as  they  existed  at  the  moment  of 
Grant's  landing  below  Grand  Gulf.  This  phenome 
nal  success  was  not  foreshadowed  by  any  thing  that 
had  gone  before  it,  and  it  would  have  been  the  height 
of  imprudence  to  stake  upon  it  the  fate  of  two  armies, 
the  issue  of  an  entire  campaign,  and  the  mastery  of 
the  Mississippi  River,  if  not  the  final  result  of  the 
war.  Nor  should  it  be  forgotten  that  Grant  himself 
regarded  this  movement  as  experimental,  like  its  fore 
runners,  and  that  up  to  the  moment  he  set  foot  on  the 
soil  of  Mississippi,  he  had  formed  no  conception  of  the 
brilliant  campaign  on  which  he  was  about  presently  to 
embark.  But  instead  of  concentrating  and  acting 
with  instant  determination  upon  a  single  plan  with 
a  single  idea,  at  the  critical  moment  the  Confederates 
became  divided  in  council,  distracted  in  purpose,  and 
involved  in  a  maze  of  divergent  plans,  cross  purposes, 
and  conflicting  orders.  While  events  caused  the  Con 
federate  leaders  to  shift  from  one  plan  to  the  other, 
with  the  chances  of  the  day,  Grant  was  prompt  to  see 
and  quick  to  profit  by  his  advantage,  and  thus  the 
campaign  was  given  into  his  hands. 

But  on  the  4th  of  May  these  great  events  were  as 
yet  hidden  in  the  unknown  future,  and  when,  after 
waiting  thirteen  days  at  Opelousas,  Banks  began  his 


142  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

march  on  Alexandria,  it  was  with  the  earnest  hope  of 
a  speedy  meeting  of  the  two  Union  armies  on  the 
Mississippi ;  then  came  the  cipher  telegram  to  exalt 
this  hope  into  a  firm  and  just  expectation  of  finding 
three  weeks  later  an  entire  corps  from  Grant's  army 
at  Bayou  Sara,  and  as  Banks  mounted  his  horse  to 
ride  toward  the  head  of  his  column,  it  was  with  the 
fixed  purpose  of  being  with  his  whole  force  at  the 
appointed  place  at  the  appointed  time. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

ALEXANDRIA. 

EVERY  one  was  in  high  spirits  at  the  prospect  of 
meeting  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee,  and,  to  add  to 
the  general  good-humor,  just  before  quitting  Opelou- 
sas  two  pieces  of  good  news  became  known. 

Grierson  rode  into  Baton  Rouge  on  the  2d  of  May 
at  the  head  of  his  own  6th  Illinois  and  Prince's  7th 
Illinois  cavalry,  together  950  horse,  bringing  the  first 
intimation  of  his  remarkable  march.  Leaving  La 
Grange  on  the  1 7th  of  April,  he  had  within  sixteen 
days  ridden  nearly  600  miles  around  the  rear  of 
Vicksburg  and  Port  Hudson  and  along  the  whole 
line  of  the  Jackson  and  Great  Northern  railroad. 
Beside  breaking  up  the  railway  and  the  telegraph, 
and  destroying  for  the  time  being  their  value  to  the 
Confederate  army,  Grierson's  ride  had  an  indirect 
effect,  perhaps  even  more  important  than  the  direct 
objects  Grant  had  in  view  when  he  gave  his  orders. 
That  the  railway  should  be  rendered  useless  for  the 
movement  of  troops  and  supplies,  and  the  telegraph 
for  the  transmission  of  orders  and  intelligence,  was  of 
course  the  essential  purpose  of  the  operation,  yet  no 
one  could  have  foreseen  the  extent  of  the  confusion 
that  followed,  aided  by  Grierson's  rapid  movements, 
amid  the  fluttering  and  distracted  councils  at  Vicks 
burg.  Thus  it  happened  that,  when  he  heard  of  Grant's 

143 


144  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

landing  below  Grand  Gulf,  Pemberton  actually  thought 
himself  menaced  by  the  advance  of  Banks,  and  this 
misapprehension  was  the  parent  of  the  first  of  those 
mistakes  of  his  adversary  of  which  Grant  made  such 
good  use. 

Lieutenant  Sargent,1  the  aide-de-camp  sent  to  com 
municate  with  Admiral  Farragut,  as  stated  in  the  last 
chapter,  found  at  the  mouth  of  the  Red  River  Ad 
miral  Porter,  with  the  gunboats  Bcnton,  Lafayette, 
Pittsburg,  and  Price,  the  ram  Switzerland,  and  the 
tugboat  Ivy,  with  which  he  had  run  the  batteries  of 
Vicksburg  in  preparation  for  Grant's  movement. 
Porter  brought,  indeed,  no  despatches,  but  he  brought 
the  great  news  that  Grant  had  secured  his  landing  at 
Grand  Gulf  and  had  begun  his  victorious  march  on 
Vicksburg.  When  Sargent  returned  to  headquarters 
at  Opelousas,  he  brought  with  him  a  despatch  from 
Porter,  promising  to  meet  the  army  at  Alexandria. 

Banks  had  already  broken  up  the  depots  at  Barre's 
Landing  and  New  Iberia.  On  the  afternoon  of  the 
4th  of  May,  he  set  Dwight  in  motion  from  his  advance 
post  at  Washington.  Weitzel  marched  from  Opelou 
sas  at  five  o'clock  the  same  afternoon,  and  Emory's 
division  under  Paine  followed  on  the  morning  of  the 
5th.  Emory,  who  had  been  suffering  for  some  weeks, 
had  at  last  consented  to  obey  his  surgeon's  orders 
and  go  to  New  Orleans  for  a  brief  rest.  Grover  fol 
lowed  from  Barre's  Landing  early  in  the  afternoon  of 
the  same  day.  Banks  himself  remained  at  Opelousas 
until  early  in  the  morning  of  the  6th,  having  waited 
to  receive  and  answer  the  translation  of  the  cipher 

1  Professor  Charles  Sprague  Sargent,  of  Harvard  University,  Director  of  the 
Arnold  Arboretum,  the  distinguished  author  of  the  great  book  on  Forest  Trees 
of  North  America.  At  this  time  he  was  serving  zealously  as  a  volunteer  aide- 
de-camp  without  pay. 


ALEXANDRIA.  14$ 

telegram  from  Grant ;  then  he  rode  forward  rapidly 
and  joined  his  troops  near  Washington.  From  this 
time  the  communications  of  the  army  were  to  be  by 
the  Atchafalaya  and  the  Red  River. 

On  the  4th  of  May,  while  riding  to  the  front  to 
join  the  advance  commanded  by  his  brother,  Captain 
Howard  Dwight,  Assistant  Adjutant-General,  was 
surprised  and  cut  off  at  a  sharp  turn  in  the  Bayou 
Boeuf  by  a  party  of  armed  men  on  the  opposite  bank. 
Having  no  reason  to  apprehend  any  special  danger 
so  far  in  the  rear  of  the  advance,  the  little  party  was 
proceeding  along  the  road  without  precaution.  At 
the  moment  of  the  encounter  Captain  Dwight  was 
quite  alone,  concealed  by  the  turn  in  the  road  from 
the  ambulance  and  the  few  orderlies  that  were  follow 
ing  at  leisure.  Armed  only  with  his  sword,  and 
seeing  that  escape  was  hopeless,  he  instantly  declared 
his  readiness  to  surrender.  "  Surrender  be  damned  !" 
cried  the  guerillas,  and,  firing  a  volley  without  further 
parley,  shot  him  dead.  When  the  orderlies  who  were 
with  the  ambulance  heard  the  firing  they  galloped 
forward,  only  to  find  poor  Dwight's  lifeless  body  lying 
in  the  dusty  road.  The  murderers  had  fled. 

By  this  painful  event  the  service  lost  a  brave  and 
promising  young  officer  and  the  staff  a  pleasant  and 
always  cheerful  comrade.  The  distinguished  family 
to  which  this  gallant  gentleman  belonged  had  given 
four  brothers  to  the  service  of  their  country.  Of 
these  Howard  himself  most  nearly  resembled  in  char 
acter,  looks,  and  bearing  his  elder  brother  Wilder, 
who  fell  at  Antietam,  honored  and  lamented  by  all 
that  knew  him. 

Upon  hearing  the  news,  Banks  instantly  sent  orders 
to  Brigadier-General  Dwight  to  arrest  all  the  white 


146  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

men  he  might  find  near  the  line  of  his  march  to  the 
number  of  one  hundred,  and  to  send  them  to  New 
Orleans  to  be  held  as  hostages  for  the  delivery  of  the 
murderers.  "  The  people  of  the  neighborhood  who 
harbor  and  feed  these  lawless  men,"  Banks  wrote, 
"  are  even  more  directly  responsible  for  the  crimes 
which  they  commit,  and  it  is  by  punishing  them  that 
this  detestable  practice  will  be  stopped."  There  were 
not  a  hundred  white  men  in  the  region  through 
which  Dwight  was  marching,  but  many  were  punished 
by  imprisonment  after  this  order — a  harsh  measure, 
it  must  be  admitted,  yet  not  without  the  justification 
that  the  countryside  was  infested  by  men  wearing  no 
uniform,  who  acted  in  turn  the  part  of  soldiers  in 
front  of  the  Union  army,  of  citizens  on  its  line  of 
march,  and  of  guerillas  in  its  rear.  When,  under  a 
flag  of  truce,  Dwight  presently  demanded  from  Tay 
lor  the  surrender  of  his  brother's  murderers,  the  Con 
federate  officers  not  only  disavowed  but  severely 
condemned  the  crime,  declaring  themselves,  however, 
unable  to  pick  out  the  criminals. 

Two  miles  beyond  Washington  the  Bayous  Bceuf 
and  Cocodrie  unite  to  form  the  Bayou  Courtableau, 
out  of  which  again,  below  the  town,  flows  the  Bayou 
Maricroquant,  forming  a  double  connection  with  the 
Teche  at  its  head.  For  a  long  distance  the  Bceuf 
and  the  Cocodrie  keep  close  company,  each  following 
a  crooked  channel  cut  deeply  into  the  light  soil. 
Crossing  the  Courtableau  above  Washington,  the 
line  of  march  now  lay  along  the  east  bank  of  the 
Boeuf,  by  Holmesville  and  Cheneyville,  through  a 
country  of  increasing  richness  and  beauty,  gradually 
rising  with  quickened  undulations  almost  until  the 
bluffs  that  border  the  Red  River  draw  in  sight. 


ALEXANDRIA.  147 

Banks  had  promised  that  he  would  be  in  Alexandria 
on  the  morning  of  the  Qth  of  May  ;  but  no  opposition 
was  encountered ;  the  roads  were  good,  dry,  and  easy 
under  foot ;  the  weather  fine,  and  the  men  were  filled 
with  a  desire  to  push  the  march,  and  with  an  eager 
rivalry  to  be  first  in  Alexandria.  Early  on  the  after 
noon  of  the  7th  of  May  the  brigades  of  Dwight  and 
Weitzel,  both  under  Weitzel's  command,  arrived  at 
the  beautiful  plantation  of  Governor  Moore,  and 
went  into  bivouac.  Here  the  cavalry,  who  had  ridden 
well  forward,  returned,  bringing  the  news  that  Porter, 
with  his  gunboats,  was  already  in  the  river  off  Alex 
andria,  where  the  fleet  had  cast  anchor  early  that 
morning,  a  full  day  before  its  time.  This  made 
Banks  desire  to  push  on,  and  he  at  first  ordered  Paine 
to  continue  the  march,  preceded  by  all  the  cavalry. 
When  Weitzel  heard  this,  his  spirit  rose  for  the  honor 
of  his  brigade,  and  in  emphatic  yet  respectful  terms 
he  protested  against  being  deprived  at  the  last  moment 
of  the  post  he  had  held  almost  since  leaving  Brashear. 
Banks  yielded  to  Weitzel's  wishes,  and  his  men,  not 
less  eager  than  their  commander,  notwithstanding  the 
long  march  of  twenty  miles  they  had  already  made, 
at  once  broke  camp  and  with  a  swinging  stride  set 
out  to  accomplish  the  twelve  miles  that  still  separated 
them  from  the  river.  One  of  the  ever-present  regi 
mental  wits  sought  to  animate  the  spirits  and  quicken 
the  flagging  footsteps  of  his  comrades  by  offering  a 
turkey  ready  trussed  upon  his  bayonet  to  the  man 
that  should  get  to  Alexandria  before  him.  For  a 
long  part  of  the  way  the  men  of  the  8th  Vermont 
and  the  75th  New  York  amused  themselves  by  taking 
advantage  of  the  wide  and  good  roadway  to  run  a 
regimental  race.  As  the  eager  rivals  came  swinging" 


148  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

down  the  hill,  they  found  their  progress  checked  by 
a  momentary  halt  of  the  horsemen  in  their  front, 
while  watering  their  jaded  animals.  Then  "  Get  out 
of  the  way  with  that  cavalry,"  was  the  cry,  "  or  we  '11 
run  over  you  ! " 

It  was  ten  o'clock  at  night  when  Weitzel's  men  led 
the  way  into  Alexandria.  A  full  ration  of  spirits  was 
served  out  to  the  men,  who  then  threw  themselves  on 
the  ground  without  further  ceremony  and  used  to  the 
full  the  permission  to  enjoy  for  once  a  long  sleep 
mercifully  unbroken  by  a  reveille.  Paine  followed 
and  encamped  near  Alexandria  on  the  following 
morning  ;  Grover  rested  near  Lecompte,  about  twenty 
miles  in  the  rear. 

Beside  his  own  vessels,  Porter  brought  with  him  to 
Alexandria  the  Estrella  and  Arizona  from  the  flotilla 
that  had  been  operating  on  the  Atchafalaya  under 
Cooke.  Porter  was  thus  fully  prepared  to  deal  with 
any  opposition  he  might  encounter  from  the  Confed 
erate  batteries  at  Fort  De  Russy  ;  but,  although  only 
the  day  before  the  Albatross,  Estrella,  and  Arizona 
had  been  driven  off  after  a  sharp  fight  of  forty  minutes, 
when,  on  the  5th  of  May,  Porter  arrived  at  Fort  De 
Russy,  he  found  the  place  deserted  and  the  guns  gone.1 

On  the  8th  of  May,  finding  that  the  river  was 
falling,  Porter,  after  conferring  freely  with  Banks, 
withdrew  all  his  vessels  except  the  Lafayette,  and 
descending  the  Red  River,  sent  four  of  the  gunboats 

1  Under  orders  from  Kirby  Smith  to  Taylor,  dated  April  22d :  "  The  General 
is  of  the  opinion  that  if  a  portion  of  the  force  pursuing  you  should  move  against 
Fort  De  Russy  by  the  road  from  Hauffpaur,  it  would  be  impossible  to  hold  it." 
See  also  Smith  to  Cooper,  April  23d  :  "  The  people  at  Fort  De  Russy  cannot 
stand  a  land  attack.  The  advance  of  the  enemy's  column  to  the  Hauffpaur 
.  .  .  will  ensure  its  speedy  fall,  with  loss  of  guns  and  garrison.  Under 
these  circumstances,  General  Taylor  has  ordered  the  removal  of  the  32-pounder 
rifle  and  n-inch  columbiads  to  a  position  higher  up  the  Red  River." 


ALEXANDRIA.  149 

seventy  miles  up  the  Black  and  its  principal  affluent, 
the  Washita,  to  Harrisonburg.  This  latter  expedition 
had  no  immediate  result,  but  it  served  to  show  the 
ease  with  which  the  original  plan  of  campaign  might 
have  been  followed  to  its  end. 

While  Banks  was  still  at  Opelousas,  Kirby  Smith, 
taking  Dwight's  approach  to  signify  a  general  advance 
of  the  Union  army,  had  arranged  to  retire  up  the 
Red  River  and  to  concentrate  at  Shreveport.  Thither, 
on  the  24th  of  April,  he  removed  his  headquarters 
from  Alexandria  and  called  in  not  only  Taylor  but  a 
division  of  infantry  under  Walker,  and  three  regiments 
of  Texans  already  on  the  Red  River.  All  the  troops 
that  Magruder  could  spare  from  the  8,000  serving  in 
Eastern  Texas  he  was  at  once  to  put  in  march  to  the 
Sabine.  These  orders,  though  too  late  for  the 
emergency,  brought  about  the  concentration  that  was 
presently  to  threaten  the  ruin  of  Banks's  main  cam 
paign  on  the  Mississippi. 

Weitzel,  with  Dwight,  followed  the  Confederate 
rear-guard  to  Lawson's  Ferry,  forty-one  miles  by  the 
river  beyond  Alexandria,  taking  a  few  prisoners. 
Taylor  himself  appears  to  have  had  a  narrow  escape 
from  being  among  them. 

During  the  week  spent  at  Alexandria,  Banks  was 
for  the  first  time  in  direct  and  comparatively  rapid 
communication  with  Grant,  now  in  the  very  heart  of 
his  Vicksburg  campaign,  and  here,  as  we  have  seen, 
the  correspondence  was  brought  to  a  point.  When 
he  first  learned  that  Grant  had  given  up  all  intention 
of  sending  to  him  any  portion  of  the  Army  of  the 
Tennessee,  Banks  was  greatly  cast  down,  and  his 
plans  rapidly  underwent  many  changes  and  perturba 
tions.  At  first  he  was  disposed  to  think  that  nothing 


i  50  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

remained  but  to  retrace  his  steps  over  the  whole  toil 
some  way  by  Opelousas,  the  Teche,  Brashear,  New 
Orleans,  and  the  Mississippi  to  Baton  Rouge,  and 
thence  to  conduct  a  separate  attack  upon  Port  Hudson. 
This  movement  would  probably  have  consumed  two 
months,  and  long  before  the  expiration  of  that  time 
it  was  fair  to  suppose  the  object  of  such  an  operation 
would  have  ceased  to  exist.  What  led  Banks  to  this 
despondent  view  was  the  fact  that  he  had  been  count 
ing  upon  Grant's  steamboat  transportation  for  the 
crossing  of  the  Mississippi  to  Bayou  Sara,  and  at  first 
he  did  not  see  how  this  deficiency  could  now  be  met. 

Indeed,  on  the  i2th  of  May,  he  went  so  far  as  to 
issue  his  preparatory  orders  for  the  retrograde  move 
ment  ;  but  the  next  day  careful  reconnoissances  by  his 
engineers,  Major  Houston  and  Lieutenant  Harwood, 
led  him  to  change  his  mind  and  to  conclude  that  it 
would,  after  all,  be  possible  to  march  to  Simmesport, 
and  there,  using  the  light-draught  boats  of  the*  De 
partment  of  the  Gulf,  supplemented  by  such  steamers 
as  Grant  might  be  able  to  spare  for  this  purpose,  to 
transfer  the  whole  column  to  Grand  Gulf  and  thence 
march  to  join  Grant  in  the  rear  of  Vicksburg.  Ac 
cordingly,  on  the  1 3th  of  May,  Banks  gave  orders  for 
the  immediate  movement  of  his  whole  force  in  accord 
ance  with  this  plan,  and  set  aside  all  the  preparations 
that  had  previously  been  made. 

When  the  news  reached  Washington  that  Grant 
had  gone  to  Jackson  and  Banks  to  Alexandria,  great 
was  the  dissatisfaction  of  the  Government  and  emphatic 
its  expression.  On  the  i9th  of  May  Halleck  wrote 
to  Banks  : 

"  These  operations  are  too  eccentric  to  be  pursued.  I  must 
again  urge  that  you  co-operate  as  soon  as  possible  with  General 


ALEXANDRIA.  151 

Grant  east  of  the  Mississippi.  Your  forces  must  be  united  at  the 
earliest  possible  moment.  Otherwise  the  enemy  will  concentrate 
on  Grant  and  crush  him.  Do  all  you  can  to  prevent  this.  .  .  . 
"  We  shall  watch  with  the  greatest  anxiety  the  movements  of 
yourself  and  General  Grant.  I  have  urged  him  to  keep  his  forces 
concentrated  as  much  as  possible  and  not  to  move  east  until  he 
gets  control  of  the  Mississippi  River." 

And  again,  on  the  23d  of  May,  still  more  pointedly: 

"  If  these  eccentric  movements,  with  the  main  forces  of  the 
enemy  on  the  Mississippi  River,  do  not  lead  to  some  serious 
disaster,  it  will  be  because  the  enemy  does  not  take  full  advantage 
of  his  opportunity.  I  assure  you  the  Government  is  exceedingly 
disappointed  that  you  and  General  Grant  are  not  acting  in  con 
junction.  It  thought  to  secure  that  object  by  authorizing  you  to 
assume  the  entire  command  as  soon  as  you  and  General  Grant 
could  unite." 

When  these  despatches  were  penned,  Grant  and 
Banks  were  already  committed  to  their  own  plans  for 
the  final  campaign  on  the  Mississippi.  When  they 
were  received,  Grant  was  before  Vicksburg,  Banks 
before  Hudson  ;  each  had  delivered  his  first  assault 
and  entered  upon  the  siege.  The  censure  was  with 
drawn  as  soon  as,  in  the  light  of  full  explanations, 
the  circumstances  came  to  be  understood. 


CHAPTER  XV. 
BACK  TO  PORT  HUDSON. 

ON  the  7th  of  May  Porter  relieved  Farragut  in  the 
guardianship  of  the  Mississippi  and  its  tributaries 
above  the  mouth  of  the  Red  River.  This  left  Farra 
gut  free  to  withdraw  his  fleet  so  long  blockading  and 
blockaded  above  Port  Hudson.  Accordingly  he  gave 
discretionary  orders  to  Palmer  to  choose  his  time  for 
once  more  running  the  gauntlet,  and  Palmer  was  only 
watching  his  opportunity  when  he  yielded  to  the 
earnest  entreaty  of  Banks,  and  agreed  to  remain  and 
co-operate  if  the  General  meant  to  go  against  Port 
Hudson. 

Grover  began  the  movement  on  the  i4th  of  May  ; 
Paine  followed  early  on  the  morning  of  the  I5th; 
while  Weitzel,  still  retaining  Dwight,  was  ordered  to 
hold  Alexandria  until  the  1 7th,  and  then  to  retire  to 
Murdock's  plantation,  where  the  east  and  west  road 
along  the  Bayou  HaufTpaur  crosses  the  road  from 
Alexandria  to  Opelousas,  and  there  await  further 
orders. 

Besides  the  ordinary  duty  of  a  rear-guard,  the  object 
of  this  disposition  of  Weitzel's  force  was  to  cover  the 
withdrawal  toward  Brashear  of  the  long  train  of  sur 
plus  wagons  for  which  there  was  now  no  immediate 
need,  and  which  would  only  have  encumbered  the 
proposed  movement  of  the  Corps  by  water.  All  the 

152 


BACK  TO  PORT  HUDSON.  153 

troops  took  the  road  by  Cheneyville  instead  of  that 
by  Marksville,  in  order  to  conceal  from  the  Confed 
erates  as  long  as  possible  the  true  direction  of  the 
movement. 

Having  given  these  orders,  Banks  embarked  on 
one  of  the  river  steamboats  on  the  evening  of  the 
1 5th  and  transferred  his  headquarters  to  Simmes's 
plantation  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Atchafalaya  oppo 
site  Simmesport.  Thence  he  proceeded  down  the 
Atchafalaya  to  Brashear,  and  so  by  rail  to  New 
Orleans. 

Grover  broke  camp  at  Stafford's  plantation  on  the 
1 4th  of  May,  and  marched  seventeen  miles  to  Cheney 
ville  ;  on  the  1 5th,  fourteen  miles  to  Enterprise;  on 
the  1 6th,  sixteen  miles  to  the  Bayou  de  Glaise ;  and, 
on  the  morning  of  the  1 7th,  twelve  miles  to  Simmes 
port,  and  immediately  began  to  cross  on  large  flat- 
boats  rowed  by  negro  boatmen.  To  these  were 
presently  added  a  little,  old,  slow,  and  very  frail 
stem-wheel  steamboat,  named  the  Bee,  which,  a  short 
time  afterwards,  quietly  turned  upside  down,  without 
any  observable  cause,  while  lying  alongside  the  levee  ; 
then  the  Laiirel  Hill,  one  of  the  best  boats  in  the 
service  of  the  quartermaster  ;  afterward  gradually  but 
very  slowly  the  other  steamers  began  to  come  in. 
Grover  finished  crossing  on  the  morning  of  the  i8th, 
and  went  into  camp  near  the  Corps  headquarters. 

Paine,  with  the  6th  New  York  added  to  his  com 
mand  for  the  few  remaining  days  of  its  service, 
followed  in  the  footsteps  of  Grover.  Leaving  Alex 
andria  on  the  morning  of  the  i5th,  Paine  marched 
twenty  miles  and  halted  at  Lecompte.  On  the  i6th, 
he  marched  twenty-five  miles  to  the  Bayou  Rouge  ; 
on  the  1 7th,  twenty  miles  to  the  Bayou  de  Glaise, 


154  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

where  the  Marksville  road  crosses  it;  on  the  i8th, 
seven  miles  to  Simmesport,  and  on  the  following 
morning  began  to  cross. 

Before  leaving  Alexandria,  Weitzel,  on  the  I4th  of 
May,  sent  two  companies  of  cavalry  to  reconnoitre  a 
small  force  of  the  enemy  said  to  be  near  Boyce's 
Bridge  on  Bayou  Cotile.  The  Confederates  were 
found  in  some  force.  A  slight  skirmish  followed, 
with  trifling  loss  on  either  side,  and  when,  the  next 
day,  Weitzel  sent  the  main  body  of  the  cavalry  with 
one  piece  of  Nims's  battery,  accompanied  by  the  ram 
Switzerland  with  a  detachment  of  200  men  of  the 
75th  New  York,  the  Confederates  once  more  retired 
beyond  Cane  River. 

Weitzel  moved  out  of  Alexandria  at  four  o'clock  on 
the  morning  of  the  i7th  of  May,  and,  lengthening  his 
march  to  thirty-eight  miles  during  the  night,  encamped 
on  Murdock's  plantation  on  the  following  morning. 
The  gunboats  Estrella  and  Arizona  and  the  ram 
Switzerland  stayed  in  the  river  off  Alexandria  until 
noon  of  the  1 7th  to  cover  Weitzel's  withdrawal,  and 
then  dropped  down  to  the  mouth  of  the  Red  River 
and  the  head  of  the  Atchafalaya.  The  Confederates 
slowly  followed  Weitzel  at  some  distance,  observing 
his  movements,  and,  on  the  morning  of  the  2Oth, 
attacked  his  pickets.  Then  Bean,  who  commanded 
Weitzel's  advance  guard,  consisting  of  his  own  4th 
Wisconsin,  mounted,  the  i2th  Connecticut,  and  all 
the  cavalry,  threw  off  the  attack  and  pursued  the 
Confederates  nearly  to  Cheneyville,  where  Barrett, 
advancing  too  boldly  after  the  main  body  had  halted, 
was  cut  off,  with  a  detachment  of  seventeen  of  his 
troop,  and,  finding  himself  surrounded,  was  forced  to 
surrender.  Barrett  himself  and  several  of  his  men 


BACK  TO  PORT  HUDSON.  155 

afterwards  succeeded  in  making  their  escape.  The 
attacking  party  of  the  Confederates  consisted  of 
Lane's  regiment,  fresh  from  Texas,  Waller's  battalion, 
and  a  part  of  Sibley's  brigade,  with  a  battery  of 
artillery. 

On  the  morning  of  the  22d,  Weitzel,  having  com 
pleted  the  object  of  his  halt  at  Murdock's  plantation, 
marched  at  a  stretch  the  thirty-four  miles  to  Simmes- 
port  without  further  molestation,  and  arriving  there 
on  the  morning  of  the  23d,  at  once  began  the  crossing. 

Chickering  marched  from  Barre's  Landing  on  the 
morning  of  the  2ist  of  May.  His  force  consisted  of 
his  own  regiment,  the4ist  Massachusetts,  commanded 
by  Lieutenant-Colonel  Sargent  and  mounted  on  prairie 
horses,  the  52d  Massachusetts,  the  22d  Maine,  the  26th 
Maine,  the  goth  New  York,  the  ii4th  New  York, 
under  Lieutenant-Colonel  Per  Lee,  Company  E  of 
the  1 3th  Connecticut,  and  Snow's  section  of  Nims's 
battery. 

The  QOth  New  York,  Colonel  Joseph  S.  Morgan, 
was  among  the  older  regiments  in  the  Department  of 
the  Gulf,  having  been  mustered  into  the  service  in 
December,  1861.  In  January,  1862,  it  went  to  Florida 
with  Brannan,  on  his  appointment  to  command  the 
Department  of  Key  West;  and  in  June,  1862,  it 
formed  the  garrison  of  Fort  Jefferson  on  the  Dry 
Tortugas  and  of  Key  West ;  in  November  it  was 
relieved  by  the  47th  Pennsylvania,  and  joined  Sey 
mour's  brigade  on  Port  Royal  Island,  South  Carolina. 
In  March,  1863,  it  was  back  at  Key  West.  There 
both  regiments  remained  together  until  May.  Mean 
while  the  district,  then  commanded  by  Woodbury, 
had  been  transferred  from  the  Department  of  the 
South  to  the  Department  of  the  Gulf  by  orders  from 


i $6  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

the  War  Office  dated  the  i6th  of  March.  These 
Banks  received  on  the  loth  of  April,  just  before 
leaving  Brashear,  and  as  soon  as  he  learned  the  con 
dition  and  strength  of  the  post,  he  called  in  the  QOth 
New  York.  The  regiment  arrived  at  Barre's  Land 
ing  just  in  time  to  go  back  to  Brashear  with  Chicker- 
ing.  Morgan,  though  Chickering's  senior  in  rank, 
waived  his  claim  to  the  command  and  accepted  a 
temporary  brigade  made  up  of  all  the  infantry  and 
the  artillery. 

The  IT  4th  New  York,  after  quitting  the  column  on 
the  1 9th  of  April,  before  passing  the  Vermilion,  and 
performing  the  unpleasant  duty  of  driving  before  it 
to  Brashear  all  the  beeves  within  its  reach,  was  so 
unfortunate  as  to  arrive  at  Cheneyville,  on  the  return 
march,  on  the  i2th  of  May,  at  the  moment  when 
Banks  had  made  up  his  mind  to  retire  to  Brashear, 
and  so  just  in  time  to  face  about  and  once  more 
retrace  its  weary  steps.  Passing  through  Opelou- 
sas  and  Grand  Coteau,  the  ii4th  turned  to  the  left 
by  the  Bayou  Fusilier  and  fell  in  with  Chickering  on 
the  Teche. 

The  way  was  by  the  Teche,  on  either  bank.  By 
this  time  Mouton,  reinforced  by  a  brigade  of  three 
regiments  under  Pyron,  with  a  light  battery,  probably 
Nichols's,  had  recrossed  the  Calcasieu  under  orders 
sent  him  by  Kirby  Smith  on  the  I4th  of  May,  before 
he  knew  of  Banks's  latest  movement,  and  was  ap 
proaching  the  Vermilion  just  in  time  to  harry  the 
flank  and  rear  of  Chickering's  column,  scattered  as  it 
was  in  the  effort  to  guard  the  long  train  that  stretched 
for  eight  miles  over  the  prairies,  with  a  motley  band 
of  5,000  negroes,  2,000  horses,  and  1,500  beeves  for 
a  cumbrous  accompaniment.  With  the  possible  ex- 


BA CK  TO  FOR T  HUDSON.  1 57 

ception  of  the  herd  that  set  out  to  follow  Sherman's 
march  through  Georgia,  this  was  perhaps  the  most 
curious  column  ever  put  in  motion  since  that  which 
defiled  after  Noah  into  the  ark. 

On  the  2  ist  of  May,  Chickering  halted  near  Breaux 
Bridge  ;  on  the  22d,  above  Saint  Martinsville  ;  on  the 
23d,  above  New  Iberia  ;  on  the  24th,  at  Jeannerette. 
On  the  following  afternoon  the  column  had  halted 
five  miles  beyond  Franklin,  when  a  small  force  of  the 
enemy,  supposed  to  be  part  of  Green's  command  or 
of  Fournet's  battalion,  fell  upon  the  rear-guard  and  a 
few  shots  were  exchanged,  with  slight  casualties  on 
either  side,  save  that  Lieutenant  Almon  A.  Wood, 
of  the  noth  New  York,  fell  with  a  mortal  wound. 
However,  although  the  troops  had  already  traversed 
twenty-five  miles,  this  decided  Morga-n,  who  seems 
by  this  time  to  have  taken  the  command,  to  push  on, 
and  the  march  being  kept  up  throughout  the  night, 
the  wearied  troops,  after  a  short  rest  for  breakfast 
arrived  at  Berwick  Bay  at  eleven  o'clock  on  the  fol 
lowing  morning.  In  the  last  thirty-one  hours  the 
command  had  marched  forty-eight  miles.  In  the 
forty-one  days  that  had  passed  since  the  campaign 
opened  the  n/j-th  New  York  had  covered  a  distance 
of  almost  500  miles,  nearly  every  mile  of  it  afoot  and 
with  but  three  days'  rest.  The  same  afternoon  the 
crossing  began,  and  by  the  28th  every  thing  was  in 
safety  at  Brashear. 

Banks  had  sent  his  despatches  of  the  i3th  of  May 
to  Grant  by  the  hands  of  Dwight,  with  instructions 
to  lay  the  whole  case  before  Grant  and  to  urge  the 
view  held  by  Banks  with  regard  to  the  co-operation 
of  the  two  armies.  Dwight  proceeded  to  Grand 
Gulf  by  steamboat,  and  thence  riding  forward,  over- 


158  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

took  Grant  just  in  time  to  witness  the  battle  of 
Champion's  Hill  on  the  i6th  of  May.  That  night 
he  sent  a  despatch  by  way  of  Grand  Gulf,  promising 
to  secure  the  desired  co-operation,  but  urging  Banks 
not  to  wait  for  it.  The  message  arrived  at  head 
quarters  at  Simmes's  plantation  on  the  evening  of  the 
i  yth,  and  was  at  once  sent  on  to  Brashear  to  be  tele 
graphed  to  the  commanding  general  at  New  Orleans. 
This  assurance  sent  by  Dwight  really  conveyed  no 
more  than  his  own  opinion,  but  Banks  read  it  as  a 
promise  from  Grant,  and  once  more  convinced  that 
it  would  be  futile  to  attempt  a  movement  toward 
Grand  Gulf  with  the  limited  means  of  transport  he 
had  at  hand,  he  again  changed  his  plan  and  determined 
to  go  directly  to  Bayou  Sara,  hoping  and  trusting  to 
meet  there  on  the  25th  of  May  a  corps  of  20,000  men 
from  Grant's  army. 

The  effective  strength  of  the  force  now  assembled 
near  the  head  of  the  Atchafalaya  was  8,400  infantry, 
700  cavalry,  900  artillery;  in  all,  10,000.  This  great 
reduction  was  not  wholly  due  to  the  effects  of  the 
climate,  hardships,  and  long  marches,  but  is  partly  to 
be  ascribed  to  heavy  detachments.  These  included  the 
six  regiments  with  Chickering,  one  at  Butte-a-la-Rose, 
and  one  at  Brashear. 

At  Simmesport  the  Corps  sustained  its  first  loss  by 
expiration  of  service.  The  6th  New  York,  having 
completed  the  two  years'  term  for  which  it  had  en 
listed,  went  by  the  Atchafalaya  and  the  railway  to 
New  Orleans,  and  there  presently  took  transport  for 
New  York  to  be  mustered  out. 

The  movements  of  the  army,  though  pressed  as 
much  as  possible,  were  greatly  retarded  by  the  scanty 
means  of  water  transportation  and  the  pressing  need 


BACK  TO  PORT  HUDSON.  159 

of  coal.  From  this  cause  the  navy  was  also  suffering, 
and  urgent  means  had  to  be  taken  to  supply  the 
deficiency. 

Reconnoissances,  conducted  by  Lieutenant  Har- 
wood,  in  the  course  of  which  the  enemy's  cavalry  was 
seen  but  not  engaged,  showed  the  roads  from  the 
Atchafalaya  to  Waterloo  to  be  practicable  for  all 
arms.  A  detachment  of  cavalry  sent  out  on  the  1 8th 
to  ascertain  whether  the  Confederates  had  any  force 
on  the  west  bank  of  the  Mississippi,  encountered  near 
Waterloo  about  120  men  of  the  ist  Alabama  regiment, 
under  Lieutenant-Colonel  Locke,  who  had  been  sent 
over  the  day  before  from  Port  Hudson  in  skiffs  to 
prevent  any  communication  between  the  upper  and 
the  lower  fleets.  A  skirmish  followed,  with  slight 
loss  on  either  side. 

First  placing  Emory  in  command  of  the  defences 
of  New  Orleans,  and  ordering  Sherman  to  take  Dow 
and  Nickerson  and  join  Augur  before  Port  Hudson, 
Banks  left  the  city  on  the  2Oth  of  May,  rejoined  his 
headquarters  on  the  2ist,  and  at  once  set  his  troops 
in  motion  toward  Bayou  Sara.  At  half-past  eight 
o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  2ist  of  May,  Paine 
broke  up  his  bivouac  on  the  Atchafalaya  and  marched 
to  M organza,  after  detaching  the  i3ist  New  York 
and  the  1 73d  New  York  with  a  section  of  artillery  to 
guard  the  ammunition  train.  Grover  followed  by 
water  as  fast  as  the  steamboats  could  be  provided. 
At  two  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  22d  of  May, 
Banks  and  Grover,  with  the  advance  of  Grover's 
division,  landed  at  Bayou  Sara  without  meeting  any 
opposition  from  the  enemy,  who,  up  to  this  time, 
seems  not  to  have  suspected  the  movement.  The 
other  troops  followed  as  rapidly  as  the  means  of 


160  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

transport  permitted.  Grover's  division  was  sent 
ashore,  followed  by  two  brigades  of  Paine's  division 
from  M  organza.  The  wagon  train  went  on  down  the 
road  to  the  landing  directly  opposite  Bayou  Sara, 
under  the  escort  of  the  noth  New  York,  and  the 
i62d  New  York,  with  one  section  of  Carruth's  bat 
tery,  all  under  the  command  of  Benedict. 

Soon  after  the  landing  at  Bayou  Sara,  a  party  of 
cavalry  rode  in,  bringing  the  news  of  Augur's  battle 
of  the  2 1 st.  Hearing  that  Augur  was  at  that  moment 
engaged  with  the  enemy,  Banks  pressed  forward  his 
troops.  In  a  violent  storm  of  wind  and  rain  Grover 
pushed  on  until  he  met  Augur's  outlying  detachments. 
Then,  finding  all  quiet,  he  went  into  bivouac  near 
Thompson's  Creek,  north-west  of  Port  Hudson.  Paine 
followed,  and  rested  on  the  Perkins  plantation,  a 
mile  in  the  rear  of  Grover.  Banks  made  his  head 
quarters  with  Grover.  Augur  covered  the  front  of 
the  position  taken  up  by  the  enemy  after  the  battle 
of  Plains  Store.  On  the  same  day,  the  22d,  Sherman 
came  up  the  river,  landed  at  Springfield,  and  went 
into  position  on  the  Bayou  Sara  road  on  Augur's 
left.  Thus  at  night  on  the  22d  the  garrison  of  Port 
Hudson  was  practically  hemmed  in. 

On  the  1 8th,  Banks  had  ordered  Augur  to  march 
with  his  whole  disposable  force  to  the  rear  of  Port 
Hudson  to  prevent  the  escape  of  the  garrison.  As 
early  as  the  i3th  of  May,  while  yet  the  plan  of  cam 
paign  was  in  suspense,  Augur  had  sent  Grierson  with 
the  cavalry  and  Dudley  with  his  brigade  to  Merritt's 
plantation,  near  the  junction  of  the  Springfield  Land 
ing  and  Bayou  Sara  roads,  to  threaten  the  enemy  and 
discover  his  movements.  Dudley  then  took  post  near 
White's  Bayou,  a  branch  of  the  Comite,  and  remained 


BACK  TO  PORT  HUDSON.  161 

in  observation,  covering  the  road  to  Clinton  and  the 
fork  that  leads  to  Jackson.  On  the  2Oth  of  May 
Augur  moved  the  remainder  of  his  force  up  to  Dudley, 
in  order  to  be  ready  to  cover  T.  W.  Sherman's  land 
ing  at  Springfield,  as  well  as  to  meet  the  advance  of 
the  main  column  under  Banks  from  Bayou  Sara,  now 
likely  to  occur  at  any  moment.  With  Augur  now 
were  Dudley,  Chapin,  Grierson,  Godfrey's  squadron 
composed  of  troops  C  and  E  of  the  Louisiana  cavalry, 
two  sections  of  Rawles's  battery,  Holcomb's  battery, 
and  one  section  of  Mack's  commanded  by  Sergeant 
A.  W.  McCollin.  At  six  o'clock  in  the  morning  of 
the  2ist  of  May  Augur  marched  toward  the  crossing 
of  the  Plains  Store  and  Bayou  Sara  roads  to  seize  the 
enemy's  line  of  retreat  and  to  open  the  way  for  Banks. 
When  Grierson  came  to  the  edge  of  the  wood  that 
forms  the  southern  boundary  of  the  plain,  his  advance 
fell  in  with  a  detachment  of  the  garrison  under  Colo 
nel  S.  P.  Powers  of  the  i4th  Arkansas  regiment,  and 
a  brisk  skirmish  followed.  The  same  afternoon  Gard 
ner  sent  out  Miles,  with  his  battalion,  about  400 
strong,  and  Boone's  battery,  to  feel  Augur's  advance 
and  perhaps  to  drive  it  away.  This  brought  on  the 
action  known  as  the  battle  of  Plains  Store.  Unfor 
tunately,  no  complete  reports  of  the  affair  were  made 
and  the  regimental  narratives  are  meagre. 

In  the  heavy  forest  that  then  masked  the  cross 
roads  and  formed  the  western  border  of  the  plain, 
Miles  met  Augur  moving  into  position  ;  Dudley,  on  the 
right  of  the  road  that  leads  from  Plains  Store  to  Port 
Hudson,  supporting  Holcomb's  guns,  and  Chapin  on 
the  left  supporting  Rawles's  guns.  For  about  an  hour 
the  artillery  fire  was  brisk.  The  48th  Massachusetts, 
being  badly  posted  in  column  on  either  side  of  the 


n 


1 62  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

Port  Hudson  road,  gave  way  in  some  confusion  under 
the  sharp  attack  of  Miles's  men  coming  on  through 
the  thicket,  and  thus  exposed  the  guns  of  Beck's  sec 
tion  of  Rawles.  As  the  48th  fell  back  through  the 
advancing  ranks  of  the  49th  Massachusetts,  the  prog 
ress  of  that  regiment  was  momentarily  hindered,  but 
a  brisk  charge  of  the  ii6th  New  York  restored  the 

o 

battle.  On  the  right,  a  section  of  Boone's  battery  got 
an  enfilade  fire  on  Rawles  and  Chapin,  and  enabled 
Miles  to  draw  off  and  retire  behind  the  breastworks. 
Thus  the  affair  was  really  ended  before  Augur,  whose 
duty  it  was  to  act  with  prudence,  had  time  to  com 
plete  the  proper  development  of  his  division  as  for  a 
battle  with  the  full  force  of  the  enemy,  which  he  was 
bound  to  suppose  was  about  to  engage  him.  Then 
he  completed  the  task  of  making  good  his  position, 
and  proceeded  to  open  communication  with  Banks  and 
with  Sherman. 

The  main  loss  fell  upon  Chapin,  Dudley's  casual 
ties  numbering  but  18,  Grierson's  but  2.  The  total 
casualties  were  15  men  killed,  3  officers  and  69  men 
wounded,  and  25  men  missing — in  all,  102.  Miles 
reports  his  loss  as  8  killed,  23  wounded,  and  58 
missing — in  all,  89. 

When  Augur  quitted  Baton  Rouge  he  placed 
Drew  with  the  4th  Louisiana  Native  Guards  in  Fort 
Williams  to  hold  the  place,  supported  by  the  fleet, 
and  ordered  Nelson  with  the  ist  and  3d  Louisiana 
Native  Guards  to  be  ready  to  follow  the  division  to 
Port  Hudson. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE  TWENTY-SEVENTH  OF  MAY. 

PORT  HUDSON  was  now  held  by  Gardner  with  a 
force  of  about  seven  thousand  of  all  arms.  During 
the  interval  that  had  elapsed  since  its  first  occupation 
a  formidable  series  of  earthworks  had  been  thrown 
up,  commanding  not  only  the  river  but  all  the  inland 
approaches  that  were  deemed  practicable.  The  first 
plan  for  land  defence  was  mainly  against  the  attack 
expected  to  come  from  the  direction  of  Baton  Rouge. 
Accordingly,  about  four  miles  below  Port  Hudson  a 
system  of  works  was  begun  that,  if  completed,  accord 
ing  to  the  original  trace,  would  have  involved  a 
defensive  line  eight  miles  in  length,  requiring  thirty- 
five  thousand  men  and  seventy  guns  to  hold  it.  As 
actually  constructed,  the  lines  were  four  and  a  half 
miles  long,  and  ran  in  a  semicircular  sweep  from  the 
river  near  Ross  Landing,  below  Port  Hudson,  to  the 
impassable  swamp  above.  Following  this  line  for 
thirteen  hundred  yards  after  leaving  the  river  on 
the  south,  the  bluff  is  broken  into  irregular  ridges 
and  deep  ravines,  with  narrow  plateaus  ;  thence  for 
two  thousand  yards  the  lines  crossed  the  broad  cotton 
fields  of  Gibbons's  and  of  Slaughter's  plantations  ;  be 
yond  these  for  four  hundred  yards  they  were  carried 
over  difficult  gullies  ;  beyond  these  again  for  fourteen 
hundred  yards  the  course  lay  through  fields  and  over 

163 


164  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

hilly  ground  to  the  ravine  at  the  bottom  of  which  runs 
Sandy  Creek.  Here,  on  the  day  of  the  investment, 
the  line  of  Confederate  earthworks  stopped,  the  coun 
try  lying  toward  the  northeast  being  considered  so 
difficult  that  no  attack  was  looked  for  in  that  quarter. 
Sandy  Creek  finds  its  way  into  the  marshy  bottom  of 
Foster's  Creek,  and  from  Sandy  Creek,  where  the 
earthworks  ended,  to  the  river  at  the  mouth  of  Fos 
ter's  Creek,  is  about  twenty-five  hundred  yards.  Save 
where  the  axe  had  been  busy,  nearly  the  whole  country 
was  covered  with  a  heavy  growth  of  magnolia  trees 
of  great  size  and  beauty.  This  was  a  line  that,  for 
its  complete  defence  against  a  regular  siege,  con 
ducted  according  to  the  strict  principles  of  military 
science,  as  laid  down  in  the  books,  should  have  had 
a  force  of  fifteen  thousand  men.  At  the  end  of 
March  the  garrison  consisted  of  1,366  officers,  14,921 
men  of  all  arms  present  for  duty,  making  a  total  of 
16,287.  The  main  body  was  organized  in  5  brigades, 
commanded  by  Beall,  Buford,  Gregg,  Maxey,  and 
Rust.  The  fortifications  on  the  river  front  mounted 
22  heavy  guns,  from  lo-inch  columbiads  down  to 
24-pounder  siege  guns,  manned  by  3  battalions  of 
heavy  artillerists,  while  13  light  batteries,  probably 
numbering  78  pieces,  were  available  for  the  defence 
of  all  the  lines  :  of  these  batteries  only  5  were  now 
left,  with  30  guns. 

When,  early  in  May,  Pemberton  began  to  feel  the 
weight  of  Grant's  pressure,  he  called  on  Gardner  for 
reinforcements  ;  thus  Rust  and  Buford  marched  to 
the  relief  of  Vicksburg  on  the  4th  of  May,  Gregg 
followed  on  the  5th,  and  Maxey  on  the  8th.  Miles 
was  to  have  followed  Maxey  ;  in  fact  the  preparations 
and  orders  had  been  given  for  the  evacuation  of  Port 


THE  TWENTY-SEVENTH  OF  MA  Y.          165 

Hudson  ;  but  now  the  same  uncertainty  and  vacillation 
on  the  part  of  the  Confederate  chiefs  that  were  to 
seal  the  doom  of  Vicksburg  began  to  be  felt  at  Port 
Hudson.  Gardner,  who  had  moved  out  with  Maxey, 
had  hardly  arrived  at  Clinton  when  he  was  met  by  an 
order  from  Pemberton  to  return  to  Port  Hudson  with 
a  few  thousand  men  and  to  hold  the  place  to  the  last. 
But  ten  days  later,  on  the  iQth  of  May,  Johnston, 
who  was  then  engaged  in  carrying  out  his  own  ideas, 
which  differed  radically  from  those  of  Davis  and 
Pemberton,  ordered  Gardner  to  evacuate  Port  Hud 
son  and  to  march  on  Jackson,  Mississippi.  This 
order,  sent  by  courier  as  well  as  by  telegraph,  Gard 
ner  received  just  as  Augur  was  marching  from  Baton 
Rouge  to  cut  him  off.  Then  it  was  too  late,  and 
when  on  the  23d  Johnston  peremptorily  renewed  his 
order  for  the  evacuation,  even  the  communication  was 
closed. 

The  investment  was  made  perfect  by  the  presence 
in  the  river,  above  and  below  Port  Hudson,  of  the 
ships  and  gunboats  of  the  navy.  Just  above  the 
place  and  at  anchor  around  the  bend  lay  the  Hart 
ford,  now  Commodore  Palmer's  flagship,  with  the 
Albatross,  Sachem,  Estrella,  and  Arizona.  Below, 
at  anchor  off  Prophet's  Island,  were  the  Monongahela, 
bearing  Farragut's  flag,  the  Richmond,  Genesee,  Essex, 
and  the  mortar  flotilla.  Both  the  upper  and  the  lower 
fleets  watched  the  river  at  night  by  means  of  picket- 
boats  in  order  to  discover  any  movement  and  to  in 
tercept  any  communication  with  the  garrison. 

At  the  Hermitage  plantation,  on  the  west  bank  of 
the  river,  Benedict  was  stationed  with  his  own  regi 
ment,  the  i62d  New  York,  the  noth  New  York,  and 
a  section  of  artillery  to  prevent  the  escape  of  the  Con- 


1 66  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

federates  by  water.  As  soon  as  Weitzel  joined,  on 
the  25th  of  May,  Banks  began  to  close  in  his  lines 
along  the  entire  front.  Weitzel  moved  up  to  the 
sugar-house  on  the  telegraph  road  near  the  bridge 
over  Foster's  Creek  ;  Paine  advanced  into  the  woods 
on  Weitzel's  left ;  Grover  moved  forward  on  the  north 
of  the  Clinton  Railway,  crossed  the  ravine  of  Sandy 
Creek,  and  occupied  the  wooded  crest  of  the  steep 
hill  in  front.  Augur  prolonged  the  line  across  the 
Plains  Store  road  under  cover  of  the  woods,  yet  in 
plain  view  of  the  Confederate  entrenchments.  Sher 
man  held  the  Baton  Rouge  road,  occupying  the  skirt 
of  woods  that  formed  the  eastern  edge  of  Slaughter's 
and  Gibbons's  fields. 

The  ist  and  3d  Louisiana  Native  Guards,  under 
Nelson,  having  come  up  from  Baton  Rouge,  were 
posted  at  the  sugar-house  near  Foster's  Creek,  form 
ing  the  extreme  right  of  the  line  of  investment. 

Banks  now  placed  Weitzel  in  command  of  the  right 
wing  of  the  army,  comprising  his  own  brigade  under 
Thomas,  Dwight's  brigade  of  Grover's  division  under 
Van  Zandt,  together  forming  a  temporary  division 
under  Dwight,  the  six  regiments  that  remained  of 
Paine's  division  after  the  heavy  detachments,  and  the 
two  colored  regiments  under  Nelson.  During  the 
day  of  the  25th  Weitzel  gained  the  wooded  slope 
covering  the  Confederate  left  front.  The  Confederate 
advanced  guard  on  this  part  of  their  line,  composed 
in  part  of  the  Qth  battalion  of  Louisiana  partisan 
rangers,  under  Lieutenant-Colonel  Wingfield,  resisted 
Weitzel's  advance  stoutly,  but  was  steadily  and  with 
out  difficulty  pushed  back  into  the  entrenchments. 

When  night  fell  on  the  26th  of  May  the  division 
commanders  met  at  headquarters  at  Riley's  on  the 


THE  TWENTY-SEVENTH  OF  MAY.          167 

Bayou  Sara  road  to  consider  the  question  of  an 
assault.  No  minutes  of  this  council  were  kept,  and 
to  this  day  its  conclusions  are  a  matter  of  dispute. 
They  may  safely  be  regarded  as  sufficiently  indicated 
by  the  orders  for  the  following  day.  By  at  least  one 
of  those  present  any  immediate  movement  in  the  na 
ture  of  an  assault  was  objected  to  because  of  the 
great  distance  that  still  separated  the  lines  of  invest 
ment  from  the  Confederate  earthworks  ;  it  was  urged 
that  the  troops  would  have  to  move  to  the  attack  over 
ground  the  precise  character  of  which  was  as  yet  un 
known  to  them  or  to  their  commanders,  although  it 
was  known  to  be  broken  and  naturally  difficult  and  to 
be  obstructed  by  felled  timber.  The  general  opinion 
was,  however,  that  prompt  and  decisive  action  was 
demanded  in  view  of  the  unusual  and  precarious 
nature  of  the  campaigns  on  which  the  two  armies  of 
Grant  and  Banks  were  now  embarked,  the  uncertainty 
as  to  what  Johnston  might  do,  and  the  certainty  that 
a  disaster  at  Vicksburg  would  bring  ruin  in  Louisiana. 
Moreover,  officers  and  men  alike  were  in  high  spirits 
and  full  of  confidence  in  themselves,  and  they  out 
numbered  the  Confederates  rather  more  than  two  to 
one.  This  was  the  view  held  by  Banks  himself. 
Upon  his  mind,  moreover,  the  disapproval  and  the 
repeated  urgings  of  the  government  acted  as  a  goad. 
Accordingly,  as  soon  as  the  council  broke  up  he  gave 
orders  for  an  assault  on  the  following  morning. 

All  the  artillery  was  to  open  upon  the  Confederate 
works  at  daybreak.  For  this  purpose  the  reserve 
artillery  was  placed  under  the  immediate  orders  of 
Arnold.  He  was  to  open  fire  at  six. 

Weitzel  was  to  take  advantage  of  the  attacks  on 
the  left  and  centre  to  force  his  way  into  the  works  on 


1 68  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

his  front,  since  it  was  natural  to  expect  that,  whether 
they  should  prove  successful  or  not,  these  attacks 
would  distract  the  attention  of  the  enemy  and  serve 
to  relieve  the  pressure  in  Weitzel's  front. 

Grover  was  thus  left  with  five  regiments  to  support 
the  left  centre,  to  reinforce  either  the  right  or  left, 
and  to  support  the  right  flank  of  the  reserve  artillery, 
or  to  force  his  way  into  the  works,  as  occasion  might 
require. 

Augur,  holding  the  centre,  with  Dudley's  brigade 
forming  his  right  and  Chapin  his  left,  and  Sherman, 
at  the  extreme  left,  separated  from  Augur  by  a  thick 
wood,  were  to  begin  the  attack  during  the  cannonade 
by  advancing  their  skirmishers  to  kill  the  enemy's 
cannoneers  and  to  cover  the  assault.  They  were 
to  place  their  troops  in  position  to  take  instant  advan 
tage  of  any  favorable  opportunity,  and,  if  possible,  to 
force  the  enemy's  works  at  the  earliest  moment. 

Each  division  commander  was  to  provide  his  own 
means  for  passing  the  ditch.  These,  for  the  most 
part,  consisted  of  cotton  bags,  fascines,  and  planks 
borne  by  detachments  of  men,  furnished  by  detail  or 
by  volunteering. 

It  will  be  observed  that  no  time  was  fixed  for  the 
assault  of  either  column  nor  any  provision  made  to 
render  the  several  attacks  simultaneous.  Moreover, 
although  the  order  wound  up  with  the  emphatic  decla 
ration  that  "  Port  Hudson  must  be  taken  to-morrow," 
an  impression  prevailed  in  the  minds  of  at  least  two 
of  the  division  commanders  that  there  were  still  to 
be  reconnoissances  by  the  engineers,  and  that  upon 
the  results  of  these  would  depend  the  selection  of  the 
points  of  attack. 

There  were  no  roads  along  the  front  or  rear  of  the 


THE  TWENTY- SEVENTH  OF  MAY.          169 

investing  army,  and  the  only  means  by  which  com- 
,6iunication  was  maintained  between  the  left,  the 
centre,  and  the  right  was  either  by  wide  detours  or 
through  dense  and  unknown  woods  and  thickets.  It 
was  impossible  to  see  the  troops  in  front  or  rear  or  on 
either  flank.  On  no  part  of  the  line  was  either  divi 
sion  in  sight  of  the  other. 

The  forest  approached  within  250  yards  at  the 
nearest  point  on  Weitzel's  front,  within  450  yards  on 
Grover's,  within  500  yards  on  Augur's,  and  within 
1,200  yards  on  Sherman's  front.  The  field  to  be 
passed  over  was  partly  the  cleared  land  of  the  plan 
tations,  crossed  by  fences  and  hedges,  but  in  many 
places,  especially  on  Augur's  approach,  the  timber 
had  been  recently  felled,  and,  lying  thick  upon  the 
ground,  made  a  truly  formidable  obstruction. 

The  morning  of  the  2 7th  of  May  broke  bright  and 
beautiful.  As  the  early  twilight  began  to  open  out 
along  the  entire  front  the  artillery  began  a  furious 
cannonade.  At  first  the  Confederate  guns  replied 
with  spirit,  but  it  soon  became  apparent  that  they 
were  overweighted,  and,  moreover,  the  necessity  of 
husbanding  their  scanty  store  of  ammunition  no  doubt 
impressed  itself  upon  the  minds  of  the  Confederate 
commanders. 

About  six  o'clock,  when  Weitzel  judged  that  the 
movement  on  the  left  must  be  well  advanced,  he  put 
his  columns  in  motion  through  the  dense  forest  in  his 
front,  forming  his  command,  as  far  as  the  nature  of 
the  ground  admitted,  in  column  of  brigades,  Dwight's 
brigade  under  Van  Zandt  leading,  followed  by 
Weitzel's  brigade  under  Thomas.  Paine  formed  his 
division  in  two  lines  in  support,  his  own  brigade 
under  Fearing  in  front,  and  Gooding's  in  reserve. 


1 70  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

The  Confederate  skirmishers  and  outposts  continued 
to  occupy  the  forest  and  the  ravines  on  this  part  of 
their  front,  and  the  first  hour  was  spent  in  pressing 
them  back  behind  their  entrenchments.  Then 
Thomas  moved  forward  through  Van  Zandt's  inter 
vals,  and  deploying  from  right  to  left  the  i6oth  New 
York,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Van  Petten  ;  8th  Vermont, 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Dillingham  ;  i2th  Connecticut, 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Peck  ;  and  75th  New  York,  Lieu 
tenant-Colonel  Babcock,  advanced  to  the  attack.  Van 
Zandt,  owing  to  the  inequalities  of  the  ground  and 
the  difficulty  of  finding  the  way,  drifted  somewhat 
toward  the  right.  Thereupon  Paine,  finding  his 
front  uncovered,  moved  forward  into  the  interval. 
Then  began  what  has  been  aptly  termed  a  "  huge 
bushwack." 

Until  within  three  days  a  part  of  the  Confederate 
lines  in  front  of  Weitzel  had  not  been  fortified  at  all, 
the  defence  resting  on  the  great  natural  difficulties  of 
the  approaches  no  less  than  of  the  ground  to  be  held ; 
but  in  the  interval  Gardner  had  taken  notice  of  the 
indications  that  pointed  to  an  advance  in  this  quarter, 
and  had  caused  light  breastworks  to  be  constructed 
in  all  haste.  This  the  great  trees  that  covered  the 
hill  rendered  an  easy  task.  On  the  morning  of  the 
27th  of  May,  therefore,  the  works  that  Weitzel  was 
called  upon  to  attack  consisted  mainly  of  big  logs  on 
the  crest  and  following  the  contour  of  the  hill,  ren 
dered  almost  unapproachable  by  the  felled  timber 
that  choked  the  ravines.  Thus,  while  Weitzel's  men 
could  not  even  see  their  enemy,  they  were  them 
selves  unable  to  move  beyond  the  cover  of  the  hol 
lows  and  the  timber  without  offering  an  easy  mark 
for  a  destructive  fire  of  small-arms,  as  well  as  of 


THE  TWENTY-SEVENTH  OF  MAY.          171 

grape,  shell,  shrapnel,  and  canister.  When  finally, 
after  climbing  over  hills,  logs,  and  fallen  trees,  and 
forcing  the  ravines  filled  with  tangled  brush  and 
branches,  Weitzel  had  driven  the  Confederates  into 
their  works,  he  held  the  ridge  about  two  hundred 
yards  distant  from  the  position  to  be  attacked. 

Paine's  position  at  this  time  was  to  the  right  and 
rear  of  battery  No.  6,  as  shown  on  the  map  ;  Weitzel 
and  Dwight  were  on  the  same  crest  near  batteries  3, 
4,  and  5.  The  pioneers  worked  like  beavers  to  open 
the  roads  as  fast  as  the  infantry  advanced,  and  with 
such  skill  and  zeal  that  hardly  had  the  infantry  formed 
upon  the  crest  than  the  guns  of  Duryea,  Bainbridge, 
Nims,  Haley,  and  Carruth  unlimbered  and  opened 
fire  by  their  side. 

At  length  Thomas  succeeded  in  making  his  way 
across  the  rivulet  known  as  Little  Sandy  Creek,  and, 
working  gradually  forward,  began  to  fortify  with  logs 
the  hill  on  the  right,  afterward  known  as  Fort  Bab- 
cock,  in  honor  of  the  Lieutenant-Colonel  of  the  75th 
New  York. 

To  support  Weitzel's  movement,  Grover  sent  the 
1 59th  New  York,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Burt,  and  the 
25th  Connecticut  by  a  wide  detour  to  the  right  to 
make  their  way  in  on  Paine's  left.  Taking  advan 
tage  of  the  protection  afforded  by  the  ravine,  at 
the  bottom  of  which  ran  or  rather  trickled  Sandy 
Creek,  these  regiments,  after  the  most  difficult  and 
exhausting  scramble  through  the  brush  and  over  the 
fallen  timber,  came  to  the  base  of  a  steep  bluff,  near 
the  position  afterward  occupied  by  siege  battery  No. 
6.  This,  although  the  works  directly  opposite  were 
as  yet  light,  was  naturally  one  of  the  ugliest  approaches 
on  the  whole  front.  In  spite  of  every  exertion,  it 


172  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

took  the  i5gth  an  hour  to  move  half  a  mile.  Just 
before  reaching  the  foot  of  the  hill  over  which  they 
were  to  charge,  they  captured  a  Confederate  captain 
and  six  skirmishers,  who  lay  concealed  in  the  ravine, 
cut  off  by  the  advance  and  unable  to  retire.  So 
crooked  and  obscure  was  the  path  and  so  difficult 
was  it  to  see  any  thing,  even  a  few  feet  ahead,  that 
the  officers  had  to  stand  at  every  little  turning  to  tell 
the  men  which  way  to  go.  At  last  the  regiment 
formed,  and,  with  a  rush,  began  the  assault  of  the 
bluff,  but  they  could  get  no  farther  than  the  crest, 
where  they  were  met  by  a  destructive  flank  fire  from 
the  Confederate  riflemen.  There,  within  thirty  yards 
of  the  works,  the  men  sought  shelter. 

To  try  the  effect  of  a  diversion,  Grover  put  in  the 
1 2th  Maine,  supported  by  the  remaining  fragment 
of  his  division,  reduced  to  the  i3th  and  25th  Connec 
ticut,  against  the  partly  exposed  west  face  of  the 
bastion  that  formed  the  left  of  the  finished  portion  of 
the  Confederate  earthworks.  The  point  of  attack  is 
shown  at  X.  and  XI.,  and  the  position  whence  Grover 
moved  at  i  and  7. 

After  the  first  attack  on  the  right  had  wellnigh 
spent  itself,  and  when  its  renewal,  in  conjunction  with 
an  advance  on  the  centre  and  the  left,  was  momen 
tarily  expected,  Dwight  thought  to  create  a  diversion 
and  at  the  same  time  to  develop  the  strength  and 
position  of  the  Confederates  toward  their  extreme 
left,  where  their  lines  bent  back  to  rest  on  the  river, 
and  to  this  end  he  ordered  Nelson  to  put  in  his  two 
colored  regiments.  This  portion  of  the  Confederate 
line  occupied  the  nearly  level  crest  of  a  steep  bluff 
that  completely  dominates  the  low  ground  by  the 
sugar-house,  where  the  telegraph  road  crosses  Foster's 


THE  TWENTY-SEVENTH  OF  MA  y.          173 

Creek.  Over  this  ground  the  colored  troops  had  to 
advance  unsupported  to  receive  their  first  fire.  The 
bridge  had  been  burned  when  the  Confederates  retired 
into  their  works.  Directly  in  front  of  the  crest,  and 
somewhat  below  it,  a  rugged  bluff  stands  a  little 
apart,  projecting  boldly  from  the  main  height  with  a 
sharp  return  to  the  right,  so  as  to  form  a  natural  out 
work  of  great  strength,  practically  inaccessible  save 
by  the  road  that  winds  along  the  bottom  of  the  little 
rivulet  at  the  foot  of  the  almost  perpendicular  flank. 
This  detached  ridge  is  about  four  hundred  yards  in 
length.  It  was  held  by  six  companies  of  the  39th 
Mississippi  regiment,  under  Colonel  W.  B.  -  Shelby, 
while  behind,  in  the  positions  of  land  batteries  III. 
and  IV.,  were  planted  six  field  pieces,  and  still  farther 
back  on  the  water  front  the  columbiads  of  Whitfield 
and  Seawell,  mounted  on  traversing  carriages,  stood 
ready  to  rake  the  road  with  their  8-inch  and  lo-inch 
shell  and  shrapnel. 

Shortly  after  seven  o'clock,  Nelson  sent  in  the  ist 
Louisiana  Native  Guards,  under  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Bassett,  in  column,  to  force  the  crossing  of  the  creek. 
The  3d  Louisiana  Native  Guards  followed  in  close 
support.  Just  before  the  head  of  the  column  came 
near  the  creek,  the  movement  was  perceived  by  the 
Confederates,  who  immediately  opened  on  the  negroes 
a  sharp  fire  of  musketry  from  the  rifle-pits  on  the 
detached  bluff  ;  at  the  same  moment  the  field  guns 
opened  with  shell  and  shrapnel,  from  the  ridge 
behind,  and  as  the  men  struggled  on  through  the 
creek  and  up  the  farther  bank  they  became  exposed 
to  the  enfilade  fire  of  the  columbiads.  When,  in 
mounting  the  narrow  gorge  that  led  up  the  hill,  the 
head  of  the  column,  necessarily  shattered  as  it  was 


i 


174  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

by  this  concentrated  fire,  had  gained  a  point  within 
about  two  hundred  yards  of  the  crest,  suddenly  every 
gun  opened  on  them  with  canister.  This  was  more 
than  any  men  could  stand.  Bassett's  men  gave  back 
in  disorder  on  their  supports,  then  in  the  act  of  cross 
ing  the  creek,  and  the  whole  column  retired  in  confu 
sion  to  its  position  near  the  sugar-house  on  the  north 
bank.  Here  both  regiments  were  soon  re-formed 
and  again  moved  forward  in  good  order,  anticipating 
instructions  to  renew  the  attack  ;  yet  none  came,  and, 
in  fact,  the  attack  was  not  renewed,  although  the  con 
temporary  accounts,  some  of  them  even  official,  dis 
tinctly  speak  of  repeated  charges.  In  this  abortive 
attempt,  Captain  Andrew  Cailloux  and  Second  Lieu 
tenant  John  H.  Crowder,  of  the  ist  regiment,  were 
instantly  killed.  Cailloux,  who  is  said  to  have  been  a 
free  man  of  color,  although  all  the  officers  of  his  race 
were  at  that  time  supposed  to  have  resigned,  fell  at 
the  head  of  the  leading  company  of  his  regiment,  while 
gallantly  cheering  on  his  men.  The  ist  regiment 
lost,  in  this  brief  engagement,  2  officers,  and  24  men 
killed  and  79  men  wounded — in  all,  105.  The  3d,  being 
far  less  exposed,  as  well  as  for  a  shorter  time,  lost  i 
officer  and  5  men  killed,  and  i  officer  wounded — in 

all,   7- 

The  morning  was  drawing  out  when  these  move 
ments  were  well  spent,  and  the  advanced  positions 
simply  held  without  further  effort  to  go  forward.  The 
hour  may  have  been  about  ten  o'clock.  Grover, 
Paine,  and  Weitzel  listened  in  vain  for  any  sounds  of 
musketry  on  their  left  to  indicate  that  either  Augur 
or  Sherman  was  at  work,  yet  no  sound  came  from 
that  quarter  save  the  steady  pounding  of  the  Union 
artillery.  Now  Weitzel  believed  that,  by  pursuing 


THE  TWENTY-SEVENTH  OF  MA  Y.          175 

his  advance  in  what  might  be  called  skirmishing 
order  and  working  his  way  gradually  forward  from 
the  vantage-ground  of  Fort  Babcock,  he  might  gain, 
without  great  addition  to  his  losses,  already  heavy,  a 
foothold  on  the  high  ground  held  by  the  Confederate 
left  ;  yet  of  the  character  of  the  defences  of  this  part 
of  the  line  Weitzel  knew  but  little,  and  of  the  nature 
of  the  ground  behind  these  defences  and  the  direction 
of  the  roads,  neither  he  nor  any  one  in  the  Union 
army  knew  any  thing.  The  topography  of  the  ground 
in  sight  afforded  the  only  indication  of  what  might  be 
expected  farther  on,  and  this  was  confusing  and  diffi 
cult  to  the  last  degree.  Weitzel  had,  therefore,  strong 
reason  for  believing  that  his  difficulties,  instead  of 
ending  with  the  capture  of  the  Confederate  works, 
might  be  only  beginning.  There  was,  of  course,  the 
chance  that  the  garrison  along  the  whole  front  might 
throw  down  their  arms  or  abandon  their  defences  the 
moment  they  should  find  themselves  taken  in  reverse 
at  any  point,  for  it  was  known  that  they  had  no 
reserves  to  be  reckoned  with  after  breaking  through 
the  line.  Grover  had  been  ordered  to  support  either 
the  right  or  the  left,  or  to  attempt  to  make  his  way 
into  the  works,  as  circumstances  might  suggest.  This 
last  he  had  tried,  and  failed  to  accomplish.  On  his  left 
there  was  no  attack  to  support.  When  riding  toward 
the  right  he  met  Weitzel,  who,  although  commanding 
the  right  wing,  was  his  junior  in  rank  as  well  as 
in  experience,  Grover  gave  Weitzel  the  counsel  of 
prudence,  and  Weitzel  fell  in  with  these  views.  The 
two  commanners  decided  to  ask  fresh  orders  or  to 
wait  for  an  assault  on  the  centre  or  left  before  renew 
ing  the  attack  on  the  right. 

All  this  time  Augur  stood  ready,  his  division  formed 


176  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

and  all  in  perfect  order,  waiting  for  the  word  from 
Banks,  who  made  his  headquarters  close  at  hand, 
and  who,  in  his  turn,  waited  for  the  sound  of  Sher 
man's  musketry  as  the  signal  to  put  in  Augur.  With 
Sherman,  Augur  was  in  connection  along  the  front, 
although  not  in  easy  communication.  The  precise 
nature  of  the  causes  that  held  Sherman  back  it  is, 
even  now,  impossible  to  state,  nor  would  it  be  easy, 
in  the  absence  of  the  facts,  to  form  a  conjecture  that 
should  seem  to  be  altogether  probable  and  at  the 
same  time  reasonable.  The  most  plausible  surmise 
seems  to  be  that  Sherman  supposed  he  was  to  wait 
for  the  engineers  to  indicate  the  point  of  attack,  and 
that  he  himself  did  not  choose  to  go  beyond  what  he 
conceived  to  be  his  orders  to  precipitate  a  movement 
whose  propriety  he  doubted.  Sherman  was  an  officer 
of  the  old  army,  of  wide  experience,  favorably  known 
and  highly  esteemed  throughout  the  service  for  his 
intelligence,  his  character,  and  his  courage.  He  was 
known  as  one  of  the  most  distinguished  of  the  chosen 
commanders  of  the  few  light  batteries  that  the  gov 
ernment  of  the  United  States  had  thought  itself  able 
to  afford  in  the  days  before  the  war.  Before  coming  to 
Louisiana  he  had  commanded  a  department,  and  in 
that  capacity  had  carried  to  a  successful  conclusion 
the  brilliant  operations  that  gave  Hilton  Head  and 
Port  Royal  to  the  forces  of  the  Union.  Neither  in 
his  previous  history  nor  in  his  conduct  in  the  present 
exigency  was  there  any  thing  to  his  personal  discredit 
as  a  man  or  as  a  soldier.  The  fact  remains,  however, 
account  for  it  how  we  may,  that  when  about  noon, 
greatly  disturbed  by  the  check  on  the  right,  and  still 
more  by  the  silence  on  the  left,  Banks  himself  rode 
almost  unattended  to  Sherman's  headquarters,  he 


THE  TWENTY-SEVENTH  OF  MA  Y.          177 

found  Sherman  at  luncheon  in  his  tent,  surrounded 
by  his  staff,  while  in  front  the  division  lay  idly  under 
arms,  without  orders.  Hot  words  passed,  the  precise 
nature  of  which  has  not  been  recorded,  and  Banks 
returned  to  his  headquarters  determined  to  replace 
Sherman  by  the  chief-of-staff  of  the  department.  The 
roads  had  not  yet  been  opened,  and  it  was  half-past 
one  before  these  orders  could  be  given.  Andrews 
rode  directly  to  the  left,  accompanied  by  but  a  single 
aide-de-camp,  Lieutenant  Fiske.  When  he  came  on 
the  ground  he  found  Sherman's  division  deployed, 
and  Sherman  himself  on  horseback  at  the  head  of  his 
men,  ready  to  lead  them  forward.  Then  Andrews, 
with  great  propriety,  deferred  the  delivery  of  the 
orders  placing  him  in  command,  and,  after  a  few 
words,  at  a  quarter  past  two  Sherman  moved  to  the 
assault.  Andrews  remained  to  witness  the  operation. 

Nickerson  moved  forward  on  the  right  in  column 
of  regiments.  The  i4th  Maine,  deployed  as  skir 
mishers,  covered  his  front,  followed  by  the  24th 
Maine,  ijfth  New  York,  and  i65th  New  York  in 
line.  After  emerging  from  the  woods,  Nickerson' s 
right  flank  rested  on  the  road  that  runs  past  Slaugh 
ter's  house,  near  the  position  of  battery  16. 

Dow  formed  the  left  of  the  division  and  of  the 
army.  He  advanced  at  the  same  time  as  Nickerson, 
and  in  like  order,  his  right  resting  near  the  position 
of  battery  1 7  and  his  left  near  Gibbons's  house,  marked 
as  the  position  of  battery  18.  The  6th  Michigan  led 
the  brigade,  followed  by  the  i5th  New  Hampshire, 
26th  Connecticut,  and  i28th  New  York. 

In  the  interval  between  the  two  brigades  rode 
Sherman,  surrounded  by  his  whole  staff  and  followed 
by  his  escort. 


178  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

No  sooner  had  the  line  emerged  from  among  the 
trees  than  the  Confederates  opened  upon  every  part 
of  it,  as  it  came  in  sight,  a  galling  fire  of  musketry  and 
artillery.  At  first  the  troops  moved  forward  steadily 
and  at  a  good  pace,  but  as  they  drew  nearer  to  the 
enemy  and  the  musketry  fire  grew  hotter,  their  prog 
ress  was  delayed  and  their  formation  somewhat 
broken  by  four  successive  and  parallel  lines  of  fence 
that  had  to  be  thrown  down  and  crossed.  Once  clear 
of  the  young  corn,  they  found  themselves  entangled 
with  the  abatis  that  covered  and  protected  the  imme 
diate  front  of  the  Confederate  works  on  this  part  of 
the  line.  This  had  been  set  on  fire  by  the  exploding 
shells,  and  the  smoke  and  flame  now  added  to  the 
difficulty  of  the  movement.  Here  the  men  suffered 
greatly,  many  being  shot  down  in  the  act  of  climbing 
the  great  trunks  of  the  fallen  trees,  and  many  more 
having  their  clothing  reduced  to  tatters  and  almost 
torn  from  their  bodies  in  the  attempt  to  force  their 
way  through  the  entangled  branches.  The  impetus 
was  soon  lost,  the  men  lay  down  or  sought  cover  ; 
numbers  of  Dow's  men  made  their  way  to  the  grove 
in  their  rear  and  into  the  gulley  on  their  left ;  of 
Nickerson's,  many  drifted  singly  and  in  groups  into 
the  ravine  on  their  right. 

Long  before  this,  indeed  within  a  few  minutes  after 
the  line  first  marched  out  from  the  wood,  Sherman 
had  fallen  from  his  horse,  severely  wounded  in  the 
leg ;  under  the  vigorous  fire  concentrated  upon  this 
large  group  of  horsemen  in  plain  sight  of  the  Con 
federates  and  in  easy  range  both  of  the  artillery  and 
musketry,  two  of  his  staff  officers  had  shared  the  same 
fate.  This  would  have  brought  Dow  to  the  command 
of  the  division  ;  but  nearly  at  the  same  instant  Dow 


'THE  TWENTY-SEVENTH  OF  MAY.          179 

himself  was  wounded  and  went  to  the  rear,  and  so 
the  command  fell  to  Nickerson,  who  was  with  his 
brigade,  and,  in  the  confusion  of  the  moment,  was 
not  notified.  Thus,  for  some  interval,  there  was  no 
one  to  give  orders  for  fresh  dispositions  among  the 
regiments.  Many  officers  had  fallen  ;  the  12 8th  New 
York  had  lost  its  colonel,  Cowles  ;  the  i65th  New 
York,  at  last  holding  the  front  of  Nickerson's  line, 
had  lost  two  successive  commanders,  Abel  Smith  and 
Carr,  both  wounded,  the  former  mortally,  while  stand 
ing  by  the  colors.  To  retire  was  now  only  less  diffi 
cult  than  to  advance.  Nickerson's  men,  lying  down, 
held  their  ground  until  after  dark ;  but  Dow's,  being 
nearer  the  cover  of  the  woods,  fell  back  to  their  first 
position. 

Andrews  now  took  command  of  the  division,  in 
virtue  of  the  written  orders  of  the  commanding  gen 
eral,  and  prepared  to  obey  whatever  fresh  instructions 
he  might  receive.  None  came  ;  there  was,  indeed, 
nothing  to  be  done  but  to  withdraw  and  to  restore 
order. 

As  soon  as  Banks  heard  the  rattle  of  the  musketry 
on  the  left,  and  saw  from  the  smoke  of  the  Confed 
erate  guns  that  Sherman  was  engaged,  he  ordered 
Augur  forward.  Augur,  as  has  been  said,  had  been 
ready  and  waiting  all  day.  His  arrangements  were 
to  make  the  attack  with  Chapin's  brigade,  deployed 
across  the  Plains  Store  road,  and  to  support  it  with 
Dudley's,  held  in  reserve  under  cover  of  one  of  the 
high  and  thick  hedges  of  the  Osage  orange  that 
crossed  and  divided  the  fields  on  the  right  of  the 
road.  Chapin's  front  was  covered  by  the  skirmishers 
of  the  2  ist  Maine  ;  immediately  in  their  rear  were  to 
march  the  storming  column  of  two  hundred  volunteers, 


i8o  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

under  Lieutenant-Colonel  O'Brien,  of  the  48th  Mas 
sachusetts.  The  stormers  rested  and  waited  for  the 
word  in  the  point  of  the  wood  on  the  left  of  the 
Plains  Store  road,  nearly  opposite  the  position  of 
battery  13.  Half  their  number  carried  cotton  bags 
and  fascines  to  fill  the  ditch.  On  the  right  of  the 
road  the  u6th  New  York  was  deployed  ;  on  its  left 
the  49th  Massachusetts,  closely  supported  by  the  48th 
Massachusetts,  the  2d  Louisiana,  of  Dudley's  brigade, 
and  the  reserve  of  the  2ist  Maine. 

O'Brien  shook  hands  with  the  officer  who  brought 
him  the  last  order,  and,  turning  to  .his  men,  who  were 
lying  or  sitting  near  by,  some  on  their  cotton  bags, 
others  on  the  ground,  said  in  the  coolest  and  most 
business-like  manner  :  "  Pick  up  your  bundles,  and 
come  on  !  "  The  movement  of  the  stormers  was  the 
signal  for  the  whole  line.  A  truly  magnificent  sight 
was  the  advance  of  these  battalions,  with  their  colors 
flying  and  borne  sturdily  toward  the  front ;  yet  not 
for  long.  Hardly  had  the  movement  begun  when 
the  whole  force — officers,  men,  colors,  stormers,  and 
all, — found  themselves  inextricably  entangled  in  the 
dense  abatis  under  a  fierce  and  continuous  discharge 
of  musketry  and  a  withering  cross-fire  of  artillery. 
Besides  the  field-pieces  bearing  directly  down  the 
road,  two  24-pounders  poured  upon  their  flank  a 
storm  of  missiles  of  all  sorts,  with  fragments  of  rail 
way  bars  and  broken  chains  for  grape,  and  rusty  nails 
and  the  rakings  of  the  scrap-heap  for  canister.  No 
part  of  the  column  ever  passed  beyond  the  abatis,  nor 
was  it  even  possible  to  extricate  the  troops  in  any 
order  without  greatly  adding  to  the  list  of  casualties, 
already  of  a  fearful  length.  Banks  was  all  for  putting 
Dudley  over  the  open  ground  directly  in  his  front, 


THE  TWENTY- SEVENTH  OF  MAY.          181 

but,  before  any  thing  could  be  done,  came  the  bad  news 
from  the  left,  and  at  last  it  was  clear  to  the  most  per 
sistent  that  the  day  was  miserably  lost.  When,  after 
nightfall,  the  division  commanders  reported  at  head 
quarters,  among  the  wounded  under  the  great  trees, 
it  was  known  that  the  result  was  even  worse  than  the 
first  accounts. 

The  attempt  had  failed  without  inflicting  serious 
loss  upon  the  enemy,  save  in  ammunition  expended, 
yet  at  a  fearful  cost  to  the  Union  army.  When 
the  list  came  to  be  made  up,  it  was  found  that 
15  officers  and  278  men  had  been  killed,  90  officers 
and  1,455  men  wounded,  2  officers  and  155  men 
missing,  making  the  total  killed  293,  total  wounded 
1,545,  total  missing  157,  and  an  aggregate  of  1,995. 
Of  the  missing,  many  were  unquestionably  dead. 
Worse  than  all,  if  possible,  the  confidence  that  but 
a  few  hours  before  had  run  so  high,  was  rudely 
shaken.  It  was  long  indeed  before  the  men  felt  the 
same  faith  in  themselves,  and  it  is  but  the  plain  truth 
to  say  that  their  reliance  on  the  department  com 
mander  never  quite  returned. 

The  heavy  loss  in  killed  and  wounded  taxed  to  the 
utmost  the  skill  and  untiring  exertions  of  the  sur 
geons,  who  soon  found  their  preparations  and  supplies 
exceeded  by  the  unlooked-for  demand  upon  them. 
All  night  long  on  that  27th  of  May  the  stretcher- 
bearers  were  engaged  in  removing  the  wounded  to 
the  field-hospitals  in  the  rear.  These  were  soon 
filled  to  overflowing,  and  many  rested  under  the 
shelter  of  the  trees.  Hither,  too,  came  large  numbers 
of  men  not  too  badly  hurt  to  be  able  to  walk,  and  to 
all  the  tired  troops  the  whole  night  was  rendered  dis 
mal  to  the  last  degree  by  the  groans  of  their  suffering 


1 82  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

comrades  mingled  everywhere,  the  wounded  with  the 
well,  the  dying  with  the  dead. 

Among  the  killed  were  :  Colonel  Edward  P.  Chapin, 
of  the  1 1 6th  New  York;  Colonel  David  S.  Cowles,  of 
the  1 28th  New  York;  Lieutenant-Colonel  William 
L.  Rodman,  of  the  38th  Massachusetts ;  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  James  O'Brien,  of  the  48th  Massachusetts ; 
Captain  John  B.  Hubbard,  Assistant  Adjutant-Gen 
eral,  of  Weitzel's  brigade ;  Lieutenant  Ladislas  A. 
Wrotnowski,  Topographical  Engineer  on  WeitzePs 
V  staff.  Lieutenant-Colonels  Oliver  W.  Lull,  of  the  8th 
New  Hampshire,  and  Abel  Smith,  Jr.,  of  the  i65th 
New  York,  were  mortally  wounded.  The  long  list  of 
the  wounded  included  Brigadier-General  Thomas  W. 
Sherman,  Brigadier-General  Neal  Dow,  Colonel 
Richard  E.  Holcomb,  of  the  ist  Louisiana;  Colonel 
Thomas  S.  Clark,  of  the  6th  Michigan  ;  Colonel  Will 
iam  F.  Bartlett,  of  the  49th  Massachusetts  ;  Major 
Gouverneur  Carr,  of  the  i65th  New  York. 

Farragut's  ships  and  mortar-boats,  which  had  been 
harassing  the  garrison  at  intervals,  day  and  night, 
for  more  than  ten  days,  joined  hotly  in  the  bombard 
ment,  but  ceased  firing,  by  arrangement,  as  soon  as 
the  land  batteries  slackened.  The  fire  of  the  fleet, 
especially  that  of  the  mortars,  was  very  annoying  to 
the  garrison,  especially  at  first,  yet  the  actual  casual 
ties  were  not  great. 

The  Confederate  losses  during  the  assault  are  not 
known.  In  Beall's  brigade  all  the  losses  up  to  the 
ist  of  June  numbered  68  killed,  194  wounded,  and 
96  missing;  together,  358  ;  most  of  these  must  have 
been  incurred  on  the  27th  of  May.  The  Confederate 
artillery  was  soon  so  completely  overpowered,  that  it 
became  nearly  useless,  save  when  the  Union  guns 
were  masked  by  the  advance  of  assaulting  columns. 


THE  TWENTY-SEVENTH  OF  MA  Y.          183 

Three  24-pounders  were  dismounted,  and  of  these 
one  was  completely  disabled. 

With  the  result  of  this  day  the  last  hope  of  a  junc 
tion  between  the  armies  of  Banks  and  Grant  van 
ished.  It  may  therefore  be  convenient  to  retrace 
our  steps  a  little  in  order  to  note  the  closing  incidents 
of  this  strange  chapter  of  well-laid  plans  by  fortune 
brought  to  naught. 

Dwight  returned  from  his  visit  to  Grant  on  the 
22d  of  May,  and  reported  to  Banks  in  person  at  his 
headquarters  with  Grover  on  Thompson's  Creek.  In 
his  account  of  what  had  taken  place,  Dwight  con 
firmed  the  idea  Banks  had  already  derived  from 
the  despatch  that  Dwight  had  sent  from  Grand  Gulf 
on  the  1 6th,  before  he  had  seen  Grant.  Grant 
would  send  5,000  men,  Dwight  reported,  but  Banks 
was  not  to  wait  for  them.  Practically  this  had  no 
effect  whatever  upon  the  campaign,  and  how  little 
impression  it  made  upon  the  mind  of  Grant  himself 
may  be  seen  from  his  description,  written  in  1884,  of 
his  interview  with  Dwight.  It  was  the  morning  of 
the  1 7th  of  May,  and  Grant's  troops  were  standing 
on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Big  Black  ready  to  force 
the  passage  of  the  river : 

"While  the  troops  were  standing  as  here  described,  an  officer 
from  Banks's  staff  came  up  and  presented  me  with  a  letter  from 
General  Halleck,  dated  the  nth  of  May.  It  had  been  sent 
by  way  of  New  Orleans  to  Banks  to  forward  to  me.  He  ordered 
me  to  return  to  Grand  Gulf  and  to  co-operate  from  there  with 
Banks  against  Port  Hudson,  and  then  to  return  with  our  com 
bined  forces  to  besiege  Vicksburg.  I  told  the  officer  that  the 
order  came  too  late  and  that  Halleck  would  not  give  it  then  if  he 
knew  our  position.  The  bearer  of  the  despatch  insisted  that  I 
ought  to  obey  the  order,  and  was  giving  arguments  to  support 
his  position  when  I  heard  great  cheering  to  the  right  of  our  line, 
and  looking  in  that  direction,  saw  Lawler,  in  his  shirt-sleeves, 
leading  a  charge  upon  the  enemy.  I  immediately  mounted  my 


1 84  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

horse  and  rode  in  the  direction  of  the  charge,  and  saw  no  more 
of  the  officer  who  delivered  the  despatch,  I  think  not  even  to  this 
day."1 

Here  two  mistakes  are  perhaps  worth  noting  as 
curious  rather  than  important  :  Dwight  was  not  a 
member  of  Banks's  staff,  and  the  letter  from  Halleck, 
dated  the  i  ith  of  May,  which  General  Grant  strangely 
supposed  to  have  come  by  way  of  New  Orleans,  was, 
in  fact,  Halleck's  telegram  of  that  date,  sent  by  way 
of  Memphis,  which  Dwight  had  picked  up  as  he 
passed  through  Grand  Gulf,  after  Grant  had  cut  his 
communications.  Dwight's  account  may  have  taken 
color  from  his  hopes,  yet  the  course  of  events  gives 
some  reason  to  think  he  may  have  had  warrant  for  his 
belief. 

On  the  i Qth  of  May  Grant's  first  assault  of  Vicks- 
burg  was  repulsed  with  a  loss  of  942.  Three  days 
later  he  delivered  his  second  assault,  which  likewise 
failed,  at  a  cost  of  3,199  killed,  wounded,  and  missing. 
This  drove  him  to  the  siege  and  put  him  in  need  of 
more  troops  ;  yet  when,  on  the  25th  of  May,  he  sat 
down  to  write  to  Banks,  it  was  with  the  purpose  of 
offering  to  send  down  a  force  of  8,000  or  10,000 
men  if  Banks  could  now  provide  the  means  of  trans 
port.  But  even  while  Grant  wrote,  word  came  that 
Johnston  was  gathering  in  his  rear  ;  and  so  the  whole 
thing  was  once  more  given  up,  and  instead,  once  again 
he  called  on  Banks  for  help  ;  and  this  time  he  sent 
down  two  large  steamers,  the  Forest  Queen  and  Mod 
erator,  to  fetch  the  men.  But  Banks  had  now  no 
men  to  spare  ;  he  too  was  cast  for  a  siege  ;  he  could 
only  echo  the  entreaty  and  send  back  the  steamboats 
empty  as  they  came.  So  the  affair  ended. 

1  "  Personal  Memoirs  of  U.  S.  Grant,"  vol.  i.,  p.  524. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 
THE   FOURTEENTH  OF  JUNE. 

BANKS  at  once  ordered  up  the  ammunition  and 
the  stores  from  the  depot  at  Riley's,  near  the  head 
quarters  of  the  day  before,  and  early  on  the  morning 
of  the  28th  of  May  established  his  headquarters  in 
tents  at  Young's,  in  rear  of  the  centre,  and  began 
his  arrangements  to  reduce  Port  Hudson  by  gradual 
approaches.  At  six  o'clock  in  the  morning  he  sent 
a  flag  of  truce  to  .Gardner,  from  Augur's  front  on 
the  Plains  Store  road,  bearing  a  request  for  a  suspen 
sion  of  hostilities  until  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon, 
to  permit  the  removal  of  the  dead  and  wounded. 
To  this  Gardner  at  once  refused  to  agree  unless 
Banks  would  agree  to  withdraw  at  all  points  to  a 
distance  of  eight  hundred  yards.  He  also  demanded 
that  the  fleet  should  drop  down  out  of  range.  Banks 
was  unable  to  consent.  A  long  correspondence  fol 
lowed,  twelve  letters  in  all,  crossing  and  recrossing,  to 
the  utter  confusion  of  time.  At  length,  shortly  after 
half-past  three  o'clock,  Banks  received  Gardner's 
assent  to  an  armistice  extending  till  seven  o'clock. 
The  conditions  were  that  the  besiegers  were  to  send 
to  the  lines  of  defence,  by  unarmed  parties,  such  of 
the  Confederate  killed  as  remained  unburied,  and 
such  of  their  wounded  as  had  not  already  been  picked 
up  and  sent  to  the  rear.  The  killed  and  wounded  of 

185 


1 86  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

the  Union  army,  lying  between  their  lines  and  the 
Confederate  works,  were  to  be  cared  for  in  the  same 
way. 

Arnold  was  ordered  to  bring  up  the  siege  train, 
manned  by  the  ist  Indiana  heavy  artillery,  and 
Houston  to  provide  entrenching  tools  and  siege 
materials.  When  all  the  siege  artillery  was  in  posi 
tion  there  were  forty  pieces,  of  which  six  were  8-inch 
sea-coast  howitzers  on  siege  carriages,  eight  24- 
pounders,  seven  3Opounder  Parrotts,  four  6-inch 
rifles,  four  9-inch  Dahlgren  guns,  four  8-inch  mortars, 
three  loinch  mortars,  and  four  1 3-inch  mortars.  To 
these  were  added  twelve  light  batteries  of  sixty  pieces, 
namely,  six  6-pounder  Sawyer  rifles,  two  lo-pounder 
Parrotts,  twenty-six  i2-pounder  Napoleons,  two  12- 
pounder  howitzers,  twelve  3-inch  rifles,  and  twelve 
2O-pounder  Parrotts.  The  Dahlgren  guns  were  served 
by  a  detachment  of  fifty-one  men  from  the  Richmond 
and  seventeen  from  the  Essex,  under  Lieutenant- 
Commander  Edward  Terry,  with  Ensign  Robert  P. 
Swann,  Ensign  E.  M.  Shepard,  and  Master's  Mates 
William  R.  Cox  and  Edmund  L.  Bourne  for  chiefs  of 
the  gun  divisions. 

In  the  course  of  the  next  few  days  the  eight 
regiments  that  had  been  left  on  the  Teche  and  the 
Atchafalaya  rejoined  the  army  before  Port  Hudson, 
coming  by  way  of  Brashear,  Algiers,  and  the  river. 
This  gave  to  the  cavalry  under  Grierson  one  more 
regiment,  the  4ist  Massachusetts,  now  mounted,  and 
henceforth  known  as  the  3d  Massachusetts  cavalry, 
the  three  troops  of  the  old  2d  battalion  being  merged 
in  it ;  Weitzel  got  back  the  ii4th  New  York  ;  Paine 
recovered  the  4th  Massachusetts  and  the  i6th  New 
Hampshire  of  Ingraham's  brigade,  now  practically 


THE  FOURTEENTH  OF  JUNE,  187 

broken  up  ;  and  Grover  the  22d  Maine  and  QOth  New 
York  of  Dwight's  brigade,  the  52d  Massachusetts  of 
Kimball's,  and  the  26th  Maine  of  Dirge's,  while  losing 
the  4 ist  Massachusetts  by  its  conversion  into  a 
mounted  regiment.  The  i6th  New  Hampshire, 
however,  had  suffered  so  severely  during  its  six 
weeks'  confinement  in  the  heart  of  the  pestilential 
swamp  that  it  was  reduced  to  a  mere  skeleton,  without 
strength  either  numerical  or  physical.  It  was  easy 
to  see  that  officers  and  men  alike  were  suffering  from 
some  aggravated  form  of  hepatic  disorder,  due  to 
malarial  poison.  Many  were  added  to  the  sick- 
report  every  day.  Few  that  went  to  the  regimental 
or  general  hospital  returned  to  duty,  while  of  the  men 
called  well  all  were  yellow,  emaciated,  and  restless, 
or  so  drowsy  that  the  sentries  were  found  asleep  on 
their  posts  at  noonday.  This  unfortunate  regiment 
was  therefore  taken  from  the  front  and  set  to  guard 
the  general  ammunition  depot,  near  headquarters. 
Without  being  once  engaged  in  battle,  so  that  it  had 
not  a  single  gunshot  wound  to  report,  the  i6th  New 
Hampshire  suffered  a  loss  by  disease  during  its  seven 
months'  service  in  Louisiana  of  5  officers  and  216 
men — in  all,  221;  and  nearly  the  whole  of  this  occurred 
in  the  last  two  months.  This  regiment  was  replaced 
in  Paine's  division  by  the  28th  Connecticut,  from 
Pensacola. 

Dwight  was  now  given  the  command  of  Sherman's 
division,  relieving  Nickerson,  who  had  assumed  com 
mand  the  morning  after  the  assault  of  the  27th. 
Dow  being  disabled  by  his  wounds,  his  brigade  fell 
to  Clark.  The  2d  Louisiana  was  transferred  from 
Dudley's  brigade  to  Chapin's,  bringing  Charles  J. 
Paine  in  command.  Halbert  E.  Paine's  division  was 


1 88  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

withdrawn  from  the  earlier  formation  of  the  right 
wing  under  Weitzel,  and  was  established  in  position 
on  Grover's  left,  covering  the  Jackson  road  and  the 
second  position  of  Duryea's  battery  at  No.  12. 
Grover  was  placed  in  command,  from  the  afternoon 
of  the  27th,  of  the  whole  right  wing,  but  Dwight's 
brigade,  under  Morgan,  remained  with  Weitzel  as 
part  of  a  temporary  division  under  his  command, 
Thomas  retaining  the  command  of  Weitzel's  brigade. 
Finally,  the  i62d  New  York  and  the  i75th  New  York 
were  temporarily  taken  from  Paine  and  lent  to  Dwight, 
who,  directly  after  the  i4th  of  June,  united  them  with 
the  28th  Maine  of  Sherman's  division  to  form  a  tem 
porary  2d  brigade.  At  the  same  time  he  transferred 
the  6th  Michigan  to  Nickerson's  brigade,  evidently 
meaning  to  take  the  command  of  the  ist  brigade 
from  Clark ;  but  these  arrangements  were  promptly 
set  aside  by  orders  from  headquarters.  The  left  wing, 
comprising  Augur's  division  and  Sherman's,  now 
Dwight's,  was  placed  under  the  command  of  Augur. 

Along  the  whole  front  the  troops  now  held  sub 
stantially  the  advanced  positions  they  had  gained  on 
the  27th  of  May.  This  shortened  the  line,  and,  as  it 
was  on  the  whole  better  arranged  and  the  connections 
asid  communications  better,  Augur  took  ground  a  lit 
tle  to  the  left  and  held,  with  Charles  J.  Paine's  brigade, 
a  part  of  the  field  that  had  been  in  Sherman's  front  on 
the  27th  ;  while  Dwight,  in  closing  up  and  drawing  in 
his  left  flank,  moved  nearer  to  the  river  and  covered 
the  road  leading  in  a  southerly  direction  from  the  Con 
federate  works  around  the  eastern  slope  of  Mount 
Pleasant  and  past  Troth's  house. 

The  cavalry,  being  of  no  further  use  to  the  divi 
sions,  but  rather  an  encumbrance  upon  them,  was 


THE  FOURTEENTH  OF  JUNE.  189 

massed,  under  Grierson,  behind  the  centre,  and  as 
signed  to  the  duty  of  guarding  the  rear,  the  depots, 
and  the  communications  against  the  incursions  of  the 
Confederate  cavalry,  under  Logan,  known  to  be  hov 
ering  between  Port  Hudson  and  Clinton,  and  sup 
posed  to  be  from  1,500  to  2,000  strong.  Logan's 
actual  force  at  this  time  was  about  1,200  effective. 
Grierson  had  about  1,700,  including  his  own  regiment, 
the  6th  Illinois,  the  ;th  Illinois,  Colonel  Edward 
Prince,  a  detatchment  of  the  ist  Louisiana,  the  3d 
Massachusetts  cavalry,  and  the  i4th  New  York. 

As  fast  as  the  engineers  were  able  to  survey  the 
ground  and  the  working  parties  to  open  the  roads, 
Arnold  and  Houston  chose  with  great  care  the  posi 
tions  for  the  siege  batteries,  and  heavy  details  were 
soon  at  work  upon  them,  as  well  as  upon  the  long  line 
of  rifle-pits,  connecting  the  batteries  and  practically 
forming  the  first  parallel  of  the  siege  works.  The 
positions  of  some  of  these  batteries,  especially  on  the 
left,  were  afterward  changed ;  but  as  finally  con 
structed  and  mounted,  they  began  at  the  north,  near 
the  position  of  the  colored  regiments  on  the  right 
bank  of  Foster's  Creek,  and  extended,  at  a  distance 
from  the  Confederate  works  varying  from  six  hun 
dred  to  twelve  hundred  yards,  to  the  Mount  Pleasant 
road,  across  which  was  planted  siege  battery  No.  21. 
The  first  position  of  siege  battery  No.  20  is  marked 
"  old  20,"  and  the  three  formidable  batteries  on  the  ex 
treme  left,  Nos.  22,  23,  and  24,  were  not  established  till 
later,  the  attack  of  the  Confederate  works  in  their 
front  being  at  first  left  to  the  guns  of  the  fleet.  Two 
epaulements  for  field  artillery  were  thrown  up  on 
either  side  of  the  road  at  Foster's  Creek  to  command 
the  passage  of  the  stream,  but  no  siege  guns  were 


190  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

mounted  there.     The  extreme  right  of  the  siege  bat 
teries  was  at  No.  2. 

While  all  eyes  were  turned  upon  the  siege  works 
and  every  nerve  strained  for  their  completion,  Logan's 
presence  in  the  rear,  though  at  no  time  so  hurtful  as 
might  fairly  have  been  expected,  was  a  continual 
source  of  anxiety  and  annoyance.  To  find  out  just 
what  force  he  had  and  what  he  was  about,  Grierson 
moved  toward  Clinton  on  the  morning  of  the  3d  of 
June  with  the  6th  and  ;th  Illinois,  the  old  2d  Massa 
chusetts  battalion,  now  merged  in  the  3d,  a  squadron 
of  the  ist  Louisiana,  two  companies  of  the  4th  Wis 
consin,  mounted,  and  one  section  of  Nims's  battery. 
Grierson  took  the  road  by  Jackson,  and,  when  within 
three  miles  of  that  place,  sent  Godfrey,  with  200  men 
of  the  Massachusetts  and  Louisiana  cavalry,  to  ride 
through  the  town,  while  the  main  column  went  direct 
to  Clinton.  Godfrey  pushing  on  briskly  through  Jack 
son,  captured  and  paroled,  after  the  useless  fashion  of 
the  time,  a  number  of  prisoners,  and  rejoined  the 
column  two  miles  beyond.  When  eight  miles  west 
of  Clinton,  Grierson  heard  a  report  that  Logan  had 
gone  that  morning  toward  Port  Hudson,  but  pushing 
on  toward  Clinton,  after  crossing  the  Comite  Grier 
son  found  Logan's  advance  and  drove  it  back  on  the 
main  body,  strongly  posted  on  Pretty  Creek.  A  three 
hours'  engagement  followed,  resulting  in  Grierson's 
retirement  to  Port  Hudson,  with  a  loss  of  8  killed,  28 
wounded,  and  15  missing  ;  3  of  the  dead  and  7  of  the 
wounded  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  Logan 
reports  his  loss  as  20  killed  and  wounded,  and  claims 
40  prisoners.  Among  the  killed,  unfortunately,  was 
the  young  cavalry  officer,  Lieutenant  Solon  A.  Per 
kins,  of  the  3d  Massachusetts,  whose  skill  and  daring 


THE  FOURTEENTH  OF  JUNE.  191 

had  commended  itself  to  the  notice  of  Weitzel  dur 
ing  the  early  operations  in  La  Fourche,  and  whose 
long  service  without  proper  rank  had  drawn  out  the 
remark  :  "  This  Perkins  is  a  splendid  officer,  and  he 
deserves  promotion  as  much  as  any  officer  I  ever  saw." 

Banks  determined  to  chastise  Logan  for  this  ;  ac 
cordingly,  at  daylight  on  the  morning  of  the  5th  of 
June,  Paine  took  his  old  brigade  under  Fearing,  with 
the  52d  Massachusetts,  the  Qist  New  York,  and  two 
sections  of  Duryea's  battery,  and  preceded  by  Grier- 
son's  cavalry,  marched  on  Clinton  by  way  of  Olive 
Branch  and  the  plank  road.  That  night  Paine  en 
camped  at  Redwood  Creek ;  on  the  6th  he  made  a 
short  march  to  the  Comite,  distant  nine  miles  from 
his  objective,  and  there  halted  till  midnight.  Then, 
after  a  night  march,  the  whole  force  entered  Clinton 
at  daylight  on  the  morning  of  the  7th,  only  to  find 
that  Logan,  forewarned,  had  gone  toward  Jackson. 
Then  Paine  countermarched  to  the  Comite,  and,  rest 
ing  till  sunset,  marched  that  evening  to  Redwood,  and, 
there  going  into  bivouac,  at  two  o'clock  on  the  follow 
ing  morning,  the  8th  of  June,  returned  to  the  lines 
before  Port  Hudson.  On  this  fruitless  expedition  the 
men  and  horses  suffered  severely  from  the  heat,  and 
there  were  many  cases  of  sunstroke. 

By  the  ist  of  June  the  artillery  and  the  sharp-shoot 
ers  of  the  besiegers  had  obtained  so  complete  a  mastery 
over  the  guns  of  the  defenders,  that  on  the  whole  line 
these  were  practically  silent,  if  not  silenced.  In  part, 
no  doubt,  this  is  to  be  ascribed  to  a  desire  on  the  part 
of  the  Confederate  artillerists  to  reserve  their  ammu 
nition  for  the  emergency,  yet  something  was  also  due 
to  the  effect  of  the  Union  fire,  by  which,  in  the  first 
week,  twelve  heavy  guns  were  disabled.  The  loinch 


192  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

columbiad  in  water  battery  4  was  dismounted  at  long 
range.  This  gun  was  known  to  the  Union  soldiers, 
and  perhaps  to  the  Confederates  first,  as  the  "  Lady 
Davis,"  and  great  was  the  dread  awakened  by  the 
deep  bass  roar  and  the  wail  of  the  big  shells  as  they 
came  rolling  down  the  narrow  pathway,  or  searched 
the  ravines  where  the  men  lay  massed.  The  fire  of 
the  navy  also  did  great  damage  among  the  heavy 
batteries  along  the  river  front.  When  the  siege 
batteries  were  nearly  ready,  on  the  evening  of  the 
loth  of  June,  Banks  ordered  a  feigned  attack  at  mid 
night  by  skirmishers  along  the  whole  front,  for  the 
purpose,  as  stated  in  the  orders,  "  of  harassing  the 
enemy,  of  inducing  him  to  bring  forward  and  expose 
his  artillery,  acquiring  a  knowledge  of  the  ground 
before  the  enemy's  front,  and  of  favoring  the  opera 
tions  of  pioneers  who  may  be  sent  forward  to  remove 
obstructions  if  necessary."  None  of  these  objects  can 
be  said  to  have  been  accomplished,  nor  was  any 
advantage  gained  beyond  a  slight  advance  of  the  lines, 
at  a  single  point  on  Weitzel's  front,  by  the  i3ist  New 
York.  The  full  loss  in  this  night's  reconnoissance  is 
not  known  ;  in  Weitzel's  own  brigade  there  were  2 
killed,  41  wounded,  6  missing — in  all,  49  ;  in  Mor 
gan's  a  partial  report  accounts  for  12  wounded  and  59 
missing,  including  two  companies  of  the  22d  Maine 
that  became  entangled  and  for  the  moment  lost  in  the 
ravines. 

On  the  evening  of  the  i2th  of  June,  all  arrange 
ments  being  nearly  complete,  Banks  ordered  a  vigor 
ous  bombardment  to  be  begun  the  next  morning. 
Punctually  at  a  quarter  past  eleven  on  the  morning 
of  the  1 3th,  every  gun  and  mortar  of  the  army  and 
navy  that  could  be  brought  to  bear  upon  the  defences 


THE  FOURTEENTH  OF  JUNE.  193 

of  Port  Hudson  opened  fire,  and  for  a  full  hour  kept 
up  a  furious  cannonade,  limited  only  by  the  endur 
ance  of  the  Union  guns  and  gunners,  for  the  Confed 
erates  hardly  ventured  to  reply,  save  at  first  feebly. 
When  the  bombardment  was  at  its  fiercest,  more  than 
one  shell  in  a  second  could  be  seen  to  fall  and  explode 
within  the  narrow  circuit  of  the  defences  visible  from 
the  headquarters  on  the  field.  The  defenders  had 
three  heavy  guns  dismounted  during  the  day,  yet  suf 
fered  little  loss  in  men,  for  long  before  this  nearly  the 
whole  garrison  had  accustomed  themselves  to  take 
refuge  in  their  caves  and  "  gopher-holes  "  at  the  first 
sound  of  the  Union  cannon,  and  to  await  its  cessa 
tion  as  a  signal  to  return  to  their  posts  at  the  parapet. 
They  were  not  always  so  fortunate,  however,  for  more 
than  once  it  happened  that  three  or  four  men  were 
killed  by  the  bursting  of  a  single  shell. 

When  the  hour  was  up  the  cannonade  ended  as 
suddenly  as  it  began,  and  profound  silence  followed 
close  on  the  intolerable  din.  Then  Banks  sent  a  flag 
of  truce  summoning  the  garrison  to  surrender  in  these 
words  :  "  Respect  for  the  usages  of  war  and  a  desire 
to  avoid  unnecessary  sacrifice  of  life,  impose  on  me 
the  necessity  of  formally  demanding  the  surrender  of 
the  garrison  at  Port  Hudson.  I  am  not  unconscious, 
in  making  this  demand,  that  the  garrison  is  capable 
of  continuing  a  vigorous  and  gallant  defence.  The 
events  that  have  transpired  during  the  pending  in 
vestment  exhibit  in  the  commander  and  garrison  a 
spirit  of  constancy  and  courage  that,  in  a  different 
cause,  would  be  universally  regarded  as  heroism.  But 
I  know  the  extremities  to  which  they  are  reduced. 
.  .  .  I  desire  to  avoid  unnecessary  slaughter,  and  I 

therefore   demand    the    immediate   surrender  of  the 
13 


I94  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

garrison,  subject  to  such  conditions  only  as  are  im 
posed  by  the  usages  of  civilized  warfare."  To  this 
Gardner  replied  :  "  My  duty  requires  me  to  defend 
this  position,  and  therefore  I  decline  to  surrender." 
In  the  evening  the  generals  of  division  met  in 
council  at  headquarters.  In  anticipation  of  what  was 
to  come,  Dudley  had  already  been  ordered  to  send 
the  5oth  Massachusetts,  and  Charles  J.  Paine  the 
48th  Massachusetts,  to  Dwight  ;  and  Dudley  himself, 
with  the  i6ist  and  i/4th  New  York,  was  to  report 
to  Grover.  This  left  under  Augur's  immediate  com 
mand  only  five  regiments  of  his  division,  namely,  one, 
the  3Oth  Massachusetts,  of  Dudley's  brigade,  and  four 
of  C.  J.  Paine's.  Shortly  before  midnight  a  general 
assault  was  ordered  for  the  following  morning  At  a 
quarter  before  three  Augur  was  to  open  a  heavy  fire 
of  artillery  on  his  front,  following  it  up  half  an  hour 
later  by  a  feigned  attack  of  skirmishers.  Dwight  was 
to  take  two  regiments,  and,  with  a  pair  of  suborned 
deserters  for  guides,  was  to  try  to  find  an  entrance  on 
the  extreme  left  of  the  works  near  the  river.  But  the 
main  attack  was  to  be  made  by  Grover  on  the  priest- 
cap.  Its  position  is  shown  on  the  map  at  XV.  and 
XIV.,  and  the  approach  was  to  be  from  the  cover  of  the 
winding  ravine,  near  the  second  position  of  Duryea's 
battery,  at  No.  12.  The  artillery  cross-fire  at  this 
point  was  to  begin  at  three  o'clock,  and  was  to  cease 
at  a  signal  from  Grover.  At  half-past  three  the  skir 
mishers  were  to  attack.  The  general  formation  of  each 
of  the  two  columns  of  attack  had  been  settled  in  orders 
issued  from  headquarters  on  the  morning  of  the  nth. 
Each  column,  assumed  to  consist  of  about  2,000  men, 
was  to  be  preceded  and  covered  by  300  skirmishers ; 
immediately  behind  the  skirmishers  were  to  be  seventy 


THE  FOURTEENTH  OF  JUNE.  195 

pioneers,  carrying  thirty-five  axes,  eighteen  shovels, 
ten  pickaxes,  two  handsaws,  and  two  hatchets  ;  next 
was  to  come  the  forlorn  hope,  or  storming  party,  of 
300  men,  each  carrying  a  bag  stuffed  with  cotton  ;  fol 
lowing  the  stormers,  thirty-four  men  were  to  carry  the 
balks  and  chesses  to  form  a  bridge  over  the  ditch,  in 
order  to  facilitate  the  passage  of  the  artillery,  as  well 
as  of  the  men.  The  main  assaulting  column  was  to 
follow,  marching  in  lines-of-battle,  as  far  as  the  nature 
of  the  ground  would  permit,  which,  as  it  happened, 
was  not  far.  The  field-artillery  was  to  go  with  the 
assaulting  column,  each  battery  having  its  own  pio 
neers.  To  the  cavalry,  meanwhile,  was  assigned  the 
task  of  picketing  and  protecting  the  rear,  as  well  as  of 
holding  the  telegraph  road  leading  out  of  Port  Hud 
son  toward  Bayou  Sara,  by  which  it  was  thought  the 
garrison  might  attempt  to  escape,  on  finding  their 
lines  broken  through,  or  even  to  avoid  the  blow. 

As  was  the  uniform  custom  k  during  the  siege,  all 
watches  at  division  and  brigade  headquarters  were 
set  at  nine  o'clock,  by  a  telegraphic  signal,  to  agree 
with  the  adjutant-general's  watch. 

These  final  orders  for  the  assault  bear  the  hour  of 
11.30  P.M.  This  was  in  fact  the  moment  at  which 
the  earliest  copies  were  sent  out  by  the  aides-de-camp, 
held  in  readiness  to  carry  them.  There  were  seven 
hundred  and  fifty  words  to  be  written,  and  eleven 
o'clock  had  already  passed  when  the  council  listened 
to  the  reading  of  the  drafts  and  broke  up.  From 
the  lateness  of  the  hour,  as  well  as  from  the  distance 
and  the  darkness  of  the  night,  it  resulted  that  one 
o'clock  came  before  the  last  orders  were  in  the  hands 
of  the  troops  that  were  to  execute  them.  Many 
arrangements  had  still  to  be  carried  out  and  many  of 


i9<5  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

the  detachments  had  still  to  be  moved  over  long  dis 
tances  and  by  obscure  ways  to  the  positions  assigned 
to  them.  In  some  instances  all  that  was  left  of  the 
night  was  thus  occupied,  and  it  was  broad  daylight 
before  every  thing  was  ready. 

A  dense  fog  prevailed  in  the  early  morning  of 
Sunday,  the  i4th  of  June,  strangely  veiling,  while  it 
lasted,  even  the  sound  of  the  big  guns,  so  that  in 
places  it  was  unheard  a  hundred  yards  in  the  rear. 
Punctually  at  the  hour  fixed  the  cannonade  opened. 
It  was  an  hour  later,  that  is  to  say,  about  four  o'clock, 
when  the  first  attack  was  launched. 

For  the  chief  assault  Grover  had  selected  Paine's 
division  and  had  placed  the  main  body  of  his  own 
division  with  Weitzel's  brigade,  in  close  support 
Paine  determined  to  lead  the  attack  himself.  Across 
his  front  as  skirmishers  he  deployed  the  4th  Wiscon 
sin,  now  again  dismounted,  and  the  8th  New  Hamp 
shire.  The  4th  Massachusetts  was  told  off  to  follow 
the  skirmishers  with  improvised  hand-grenades  made 
of  6-pounder  shells.  Next  the  38th  Massachusetts  and 
the  53d  Massachusetts  were  formed  in  line  of  battle. 
At  the  head  of  the  infantry  column  the  3ist  Massa 
chusetts,  likewise  deployed,  carried  cotton  bags,  to 
fill  the  ditch.  The  rest  of  Gooding's  brigade  fol 
lowed,  next  came  Fearing's,  then  Ingraham's  under 
Ferris.  In  rear  of  the  column  was  posted  the  artil 
lery  under  Nims.  At  a  point  on  the  crest  of  the  ridge, 
ninety  yards  distant  from  the  left  face  of  the  priest- 
cap,  Paine's  advance  was  checked.  Then  Paine, 
who  had  previously  gone  along  the  front  of  every 
regiment,  addressing  to  each  a  few  words  of  en 
couragement  and  of  preparation  for  the  work,  passed 
afoot  from  the  head  of  the  column  to  the  front  of  the 


THE  FOURTEENTH  OF  JUNE.  197 

skirmish  line,  and  exerting  to  the  full  his  sonorous 
voice,  gave  the  order  to  the  column  to  go  on.  At 
the  word  the  men  sprang  forward,  but  almost  as 
they  did  so,  the  Confederates  behind  the  parapet  in 
their  front,  with  fairly  level  aim  and  at  point-blank 
range,  poured  upon  the  head  of  the  column  a  deadly 
volley.  Many  fell  at  this  first  discharge ;  among  them, 
unfortunately,  the  gallant  Paine  himself,  his  thigh 
crushed  by  a  rifle-ball.  Some  of  the  men  of  the 
4th  Wisconsin,  of  the  8th  New  Hampshire,  and  of 
the  38th  Massachusetts  gained  the  ditch,  and  a  few 
even  climbed  the  parapet,  but  of  these  nearly  all 
were  made  prisoners.  The  rear  of  the  column  fell 
back  to  the  cover  of  the  hill,  while  all  those  who  had 
gained  the  crest  were  forced  to  lie  there,  exposed  to 
a  pitiless  fire  of  sharp-shooters  and  the  scarcely  more 
endurable  rays  of  the  burning  sun  of  Louisiana,  until 
night  came  and  brought  relief.  In  this  unfortunate 
situation  the  sufferings  of  the  wounded  became  so 
unbearable,  and  appealed  so  powerfully  to  the  sym 
pathy  of  their  comrades,  that  many  lives  were  risked 
and  some  lost  in  the  attempt  to  alleviate  the  thirst, 
at  least,  of  these  unfortunates.  Two  men,  quite  of 
their  own  accord,  took  a  stretcher  and  tried  to  reach 
the  point  where  Paine  lay,  but  the  attempt  was  un 
successful,  and  cost  both  of  them  their  lives.  These 
heroes  were  E.  P.  Woods,  of  Company  E  of  the  8th 
New  Hampshire,  and  John  Williams,  of  Company  D, 
3  ist  Massachusetts.  Not  less  nobly,  Patrick  H.  Cohen, 
a  private  soldier  of  the  i33d  New  York,  himself  lying 
wounded  on  the  crest,  cut  a  canteen  from  the  body  of 
a  dead  comrade  and  by  lengthening  the  strap  suc 
ceeded  in  tossing  it  within  reach  of  his  commander  ; 
this  probably  preserved  Paine's  life,  for  unquestion- 


198  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

ably  many  of  the  more  seriously  hurt  perished  from 
the  heat  an-d  from  thirst  on  that  fatal  day. 

It  was  about  seven  o'clock,  and  the  fog  had  lifted, 
when  Weitzel  advanced  to  the  attack  on  the  right 
face  of  the  priest-cap.  The  I2th  Connecticut  and  the 
75th  New  York  of  his  own  brigade  were  deployed  to 
the  left  and  right  as  skirmishers  to  cover  the  head  of 
the  column.  Two  regiments  of  Morgan's  brigade, 
loosely  deployed,  followed  the  skirmishers  ;  in  front 
the  9 ist  New  York,  with  hand-grenades,  and  next  the 
24th  Connecticut,  every  man  carrying  two  cotton  bags 
weighing  thirty  pounds  each.  In  immediate  support 
came  the  remainder  of  Weitzel's  brigade  in  column  of 
regiments,  in  the  order  of  the  8th  Vermont,  ii4th 
New  York,  and  i6oth  New  York,  followed  by  the 
main  body  of  Morgan's  brigade.  Birge  was  in  close 
support  and  Kimball  in  reserve.  Finally,  in  the  rear, 
as  in  Paine's  formation,  was  massed  the  artillery  of 
the  division. 

Toward  the  north  face  of  the  priest-cap  the  only 
approach  was  by  the  irregular,  but  for  some  distance 
nearly  parallel,  gorges  cut  out  from  the  soft  clay  of 
the  bluffs  by  Sandy  Creek  and  one  of  its  many  arms. 
The  course  of  these  streams  being  toward  the  Con 
federate  works,  the  hollows  grew  deeper  and  the 
banks  steeper  at  every  step.  At  most  the  creeks 
were  but  two  hundred  yards  apart,  and  the  ridge  that 
separated  them  gave  barely  standing  room.  Within 
a  few  feet  of  the  breastworks  the  smaller  stream  and 
its  ravine  turned  sharply  toward  the  north  and  served 
as  a  formidable  ditch  until  they  united  with  the  main 
stream  and  ravine  below  the  bastion.  This  larger 
ravine  near  its  outlet  and  the  natural  ditch  throughout 
its  length  were  mercilessly  swept  by  the  fire  of  the 


THE  FOURTEENTH  OF  JUNE.  199 

bastion  on  the  right,  the  breastworks  in  front,  and 
the  priest-cap  on  the  left.  The  smaller  ravine  led 
toward  the  south  to  the  crest  from  which  Paine's 
men  had  recoiled,  where  their  wounded  and  their 
dead  lay  thick,  and  behind  which  the  survivors  were 
striving  to  restore  the  broken  formations. 

Weitzel  therefore  chose  the  main  ravine.  Bearing 
to  the  right  from  the  Jackson  road,  the  men  moved 
by  the  flank  and  cautiously,  availing  themselves  of 
every  advantage  afforded  by  the  timber  or  the  irregu 
larities  of  the  ground,  until  they  gained  the  crest  of 
the  ridge  at  points  varying  from  twenty  to  fifty  yards 
from  the  works  near  the  north  face  of  the  priest-cap. 
In  advancing  to  this  position  the  column  came  under 
fire  immediately  on  filing  out  of  the  ravine  and  the 
wood  in  front  of  the  position  of  battery  No.  9.  Then, 
in  such  order  as  they  happened  to  be,  they  went  for 
ward  with  a  rush  and  a  cheer,  but  beyond  the  crest 
indicated  few  men  ever  got.  From  this  position  it 
was  impossible  either  to  advance  or  to  retire  until 
night  came. 

At  the  appointed  hour  Dwight  sent  the  6th  Michi 
gan,  under  Lieutenant-Colonel  Bacon,  and  the  I4th 
Maine,  to  the  extreme  left  to  make  an  attempt  in  that 
quarter,  the  arrangements  for  which  have  been  already 
described ;  but  either  Dwight  gave  his  orders  too  late, 
or  the  column  mistook  the  path,  or  else  the  difficul 
ties  were  really  greater  than  they  had  been  thought 
beforehand  or  than  they  afterward  seemed,  for  noth 
ing  came  of  it.  Then  recalling  this  detachment  to 
the  Mount  Pleasant  road,  Dwight  tried  to  advance  in 
that  direction.  The  i4th  Maine  was  sent  back  to  its 
brigade  and  Clark  deployed  his  own  regiment,  the 
6th  Michigan,  as  skirmishers,  supported  by  the  i28th 


200  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

New  York,  now  commanded  by  Lieutenant-Colonel 
James  Smith.  The  i5th  New  Hampshire  followed 
and  the  26th  Connecticut,  under  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Joseph  Selden,  brought  up  the  rear.  These  two 
regiments  went  forward  in  column  of  companies  on 
the  main  road,  but  as  the  Confederates  immediately 
opened  a  heavy  artillery  fire  upon  the  head  of  the 
column,  they  had  to  be  deployed.  However,  the 
ground,  becoming  rapidly  narrower,  did  not  long 
permit  of  an  advance  in  this  order,  so  that  it  soon 
became  necessary  to  ploy  once  more  into  column. 
About  350  yards  from  the  outer  works  the  Mount 
Pleasant  road  enters  and  crosses  a  deep  ravine  by  a 
bridge,  then  destroyed.  The  hollow  was  completely 
choked  with  felled  timber,  through  which,  under  the 
heavy  fire  of  musketry  and  artillery,  it  was  impossible 
to  pass  ;  so  here  the  brigade  stayed  till  night  enabled 
it  to  retire.  Nickerson's  brigade  supported  the  move 
ment  of  Clark's,  but  without  becoming  seriously  en 
gaged.  Thus  ended  D wight's  movement.  It  can 
hardly  be  described  as  an  assault,  as  an  attack,  or 
even  as  a  serious  attempt  to  accomplish  any  valuable 
result  ;  yet  indirectly  it  was  the  means  of  gaining, 
and  at  a  small  cost,  the  greatest,  if  not  the  only  real, 
advantage  achieved  that  day,  for  it  gave  Dwight 
possession  of  the  rough  hill,  the  true  value  of  which 
was  then  for  the  first  time  perceived,  and  on  the 
commanding  position  of  its  northern  slope  was  pres 
ently  mounted  the  powerful  array  of  siege  artillery 
that  overlooked  and  controlled  the  land  and  water 
batteries  on  the  lower  flank  of  the  Confederate 
defences. 

Of  Augur's  operations  in  the  centre,  it  is  enough 
to  say  that  the  feigned  attack  assigned  to  this  portion 


THE  FOURTEENTH  OF  JUNE.  201 

of  the  line  was  made  briskly  and  in  good  order  at  the 
appointed  time,  without  great  loss. 

The  result  of  the  day  may  be  summed  up  as  a 
bloody  repulse  ;  beholding  the  death  and  maiming  of 
so  many  of  the  bravest  and  best  of  the  officers  and 
men,  the  repulse  may  be  even  termed  a  disaster.  In 
the  whole  service  of  the  Nineteenth  Army  Corps 
darkness  never  shut  in  upon  a  gloomier  field.  Men 
went  about  their  work  in  a  silence  stronger  than  words. 

On  this  day  21  officers  and  182  men  were  killed, 
72  officers  and  1,245  men  were  wounded,  6  officers  and 
1 80  men  missing  ;  besides  these,  13  were  reported  as 
killed,  84  as  wounded,  and  2  as  missing  without  dis 
tinguishing  between  officers  and  men,  thus  making  a 
total  of  216  killed,  1,401  wounded,  188  missing — in  all, 
i  ,805.  Among  the  wounded  many  had  received  mortal 
hurts,  while  of  the  missing,  as  in  the  first  assault, 
many  must  now  be  set  down  as  killed. 

Paine,  as  we  have  seen,  fell  seriously  hurt  while  in 
the  very  act  of  leading  his  division  to  the  assault. 
Nine  days  earlier  he  had  received  his  well-earned 
commission  as  brigadier-general.  He  was  taken  to 
New  Orleans,  and  there  nine  days  later,  at  the  Hotel 
Dieu  Hospital,  after  vain  efforts  to  save  the  limb,  the 
surgeons  performed  amputation  of  the  thigh.  A  few 
days  after  the  surrender,  in  order  to  avoid  the  increas 
ing  dangers  of  the  climate,  Paine  was  sent  to  his  home 
in  Wisconsin  on  the  captured  steamer  Starlight,  the 
first  boat  that  ascended  the  river.  Thus  the  Nine 
teenth  Corps  lost  one  of  its  bravest  and  most  promis 
ing  commanders,  one  who  had  earned  the  affection  of 
his  men,  not  less  through  respect  for  his  character 
than  by  his  unfailing  sympathy  and  care  in  all  situa 
tions,  and  who  was  commended  to  the  confidence  and 


202  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

esteem  of  his  associates  and  superiors  by  talent  and 
devotion  of  the  first  order  joined  to  every  quality  that 
stamps  a  man  among  men. 

The  fiery  Holcomb,  wounded  in  the  assault  of  the 
27th,  yet  refusing  to  leave  his  duty  to  another,  fell 
early  on  this  fatal  morning  at  the  head  of  his  regiment 
and  brigade,  in  the  first  moment  of  the  final  charge  of 
Weitzel's  men.  This  was  another  serious  loss,  for 
Holcomb  had  that  disposition  that  may,  for  want  of  a 
better  term,  be  described  as  the  fighting  character. 
All  soldiers  know  it  and  respect  it,  and  every  wise 
general,  seeing  it  anywhere  among  his  officers,  shuts 
his  eyes  to  many  a  blemish  and  pardons  many  a  fault 
that  would  be  severely  visited  in  another  ;  yet  in 
Holcomb  there  was  nothing  to  overlook  or  forgive. 
As  he  was  the  most  prominent  and  the  most  earnest 
of  the  few  officers  of  the  line  that  to  the  last  remained 
eager  for  the  fatal  assault,  so  he  was  among  the  earliest 
and  the  noblest  of  its  victims. 

Mortally  wounded  at  the  head  of  Weitzel's  brigade 
fell  Colonel  Elisha  B.  Smith,  of  the  ii4th  New  York. 
Barely  recovered  from  a  serious  illness,  his  spirit  could 
not  longer  brook  the  restraint  of  the  hospital  at  New 
Orleans  with  the  knowledge  that  his  men  were  engaged 
with  the  enemy.  Thomas  was  ill  and  had  received  a 
slight  wound  of  the  scalp  ;  this  brought  Smith  to  the 
head  of  the  brigade  ;  his  fall  devolved  the  command 
upon  Lieutenant-Colonel  Van  Petten,  for  though 
Thomas,  unable  to  bear  the  torture  inflicted  upon  him 
by  the  sounds  of  battle,  rose  from  his  sick-bed  and 
resumed  the  command,  his  weakness  again  overcame 
him  when  the  day's  work  was  done. 

No  regiment  at  Port  Hudson  approached  the  8th 
New  Hampshire  in  the  number  and  severity  of  its 


THE  FOURTEENTH  OF  JUNE.  203 

losses,  no  brigade  suffered  so  much  as  Paine's,  to 
which  this  regiment  belonged,  and  no  division  so 
much  as  Emory's,  under  the  command  of  Paine.  On 
this  day,  Fearing  commanded  the  brigade,  and  later 
the  division,  and  Lull  having  fallen  in  the  previous 
assault,  the  regiment  went  into  action  2 1 7  strong,  led 
by  Captain  William  M.  Barrett ;  of  this  number,  122, 
or  56  per  cent.,  were  killed  or  wounded.  On  the  27th 
of  May,  out  of  298  engaged,  the  regiment  lost  124, 
or  41  per  cent. 

Next  to  the  8th  New  Hampshire  on  the  fatal  roll 
stands  the  4th  Wisconsin.  This  noble  regiment,  at 
all  times  an  honor  to  the  service  and  to  its  State, 
whence  came  so  many  splendid  battalions,  was  a 
shining  monument  to  the  virtue  of  steady,  con 
scientious  work  and  strict  discipline  applied  to  good 
material.  Bean  had  been  instantly  killed  by  a  sharp 
shooter  on  the  29th  of  May  ;  the  regiment  went  into 
action  on  the  i4th  of  June  220  strong,  commanded  by 
Captain  Webster  P.  Moore  ;  of  these,  140  fell,  or  63 
per  cent.  In  the  first  assault,  however,  it  had  fared 
better,  its  losses  numbering  but  60. 

The  eccentric  Currie,  who  came  to  the  service  from 
the  British  army,  with  the  lustre  of  the  Crimea  still 
about  him,  rather  brightened  than  dimmed  by  time 
and  distance,  fell  severely  wounded  on  the  same  fatal 
crest.  He  was  struck  down  at  the  head  of  his  regi 
ment,  boldly  leading  his  men  and  urging  them  forward 
with  the  quaint  cry  of  "  Get  on,  lads  ! "  so  well  known 
to  English  soldiers,  yet  so  unfamiliar  to  all  Americans 
as  to  draw  many  a  smile,  even  in  that  grim  moment, 
from  those  that  heard  it. 

To  the  cannonade  that  preceded  the  assault  and 
announced  it  to  the  enemy  must  be  attributed  not  only 


204  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

the  failure  but  a  great  part  of  the  loss.  The  wearied 
Confederates  were  asleep  behind  the  breastworks 
when  the  roar  of  the  Union  artillery  broke  the  still 
ness  of  the  morning,  and  gave  them  time  to  make 
ready.  Such  was  their  extremity  that  in  Grover's 
front  they  burned  their  last  caps  in  repelling  the  final 
assault,  and,  for  the  time,  were  able  to  replenish  only 
from  the  pouches  of  the  fallen. 

Under  cover  of  the  night  all  the  wounded  that  were 
able  to  walk  or  crawl  made  their  way  to  places  of 
safety  in  the  rear  ;  while,  disregarding  the  incessant 
fire  of  the  sharp-shooters,  heavy  details  and  volunteer 
parties  of  stretcher-bearers,  plying  their  melancholy 
trade,  carried  the  wounded  with  gentle  care  to  the 
hospitals  and  the  dead  swiftly  to  the  long  trenches. 
The  proportion  of  killed  and  mortally  wounded, 
already  unusually  heavy,  was  increased  by  the  ex 
posure  and  privations  of  the  long  day,  while  many, 
whom  it  was  impossible  to  find  or  to  reach  during  the 
night,  succumbed  sooner  or  later  during  the  next 
forty-eight  hours.  For  although  when,  on  the  morn 
ing  of  the  1 5th,  Banks  sent  a  flag  of  truce  asking 
leave  to  send  in  medical  and  hospital  supplies  for  the 
comfort  of  the  wounded  of  both  armies,  Gardner 
promptly  assented,  and  in  his  reply  called  attention 
to  the  condition  of  the  dead  and  wounded  before  the 
breastworks,  yet  it  was  not  until  the  evening  of  the 
1 6th  that  Banks  could  bring  himself  to  ask  for  a  sus 
pension  of  hostilities  for  the  relief  of  the  suffering 
and  the  burial  of  the  slain.  But  three  days  and  two 
nights  had  already  passed  ;  most  of  the  hurt,  and 
these  the  most  grievously,  were  already  beyond  the 
need  of  succor.  The  same  thing  had  already  oc 
curred  at  Vicksburg. 


THE  FOURTEENTH  OF  JUNE.  205 

The  operations  at  Vicksburg  and  Port  Hudson 
were  so  far  alike  in  their  character  and  objects  that 
no  just  estimate  of  the  events  at  either  place  can  well 
be  formed  without  considering  what  happened  at  the 
other.  In  this  view  it  is  instructive  to  observe  that 
Grant  assaulted  the  Confederate  position  at  Vicks 
burg  within  a  few  hours  after  the  arrival  of  his  troops 
in  front  of  the  place,  on  the  afternoon  of  the  iQth  of 
May,  when  two  determined  attacks  were  easily  thrown 
off  by  the  defenders,  with  a  loss  to  their  assailants  of 
942  men.  On  the  22d  of  May  Grant  delivered  the 
second  assault,  in  which  about  three  fourths  of  his 
whole  effective  force  of  4,3,000  of  all  arms  were 
engaged.  The  full  corps  of  Sherman  and  McPherson, 
comprising  six  divisions,  were  repulsed  by  four  bri 
gades  of  the  garrison,  numbering  probably  13,000 
effectives.  In  this  second  assault  Grant's  loss  was 
3, 199.  These  are  the  reasons  he  gives  for  his  decision 
to  attack  : 

"  Johnston  was  in  my  rear,  only  fifty  miles  away,  with  an  army 
not  much  inferior  in  numbers  to  the  one  I  had  with  me,  and  I 
knew  he  was  being  reinforced.  There  was  danger  of  his  coming 
to  the  assistance  of  Pemberton,  and,  after  all,  he  might  defeat  my 
anticipations  of  capturing  the  garrison,  if,  indeed,  he  did  not  pre 
vent  the  capture  of  the  city.  The  immediate  capture  of  Vicks 
burg  would  save  sending  me  the  reinforcements  which  were  so 
much  wanted  elsewhere,  and  would  set  free  the  army  under  me 
to  drive  Johnston  from  the  State.  But  the  first  consideration  of 
all  was — the  troops  believed  they  could  carry  the  works  in  their 
front,  and  would  not  have  worked  so  patiently  in  their  trenches 
if  they  had  not  been  allowed  to  try."  Having  tried,  he  now  "  de 
termined  upon  a  regular  siege — to  *  outcamp  the  enemy,'  as  it 
were,  and  to  incur  no  more  losses.  The  experience  of  the  22d 
convinced  officers  and  men  that  this  was  best,  and  they  went  to 
work  on  the  defences  and  approaches  with  a  will."  * 

1  "  Personal  Memoirs  of  U.  S.  Grant,"  pp.  530,  532. 


206  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

It  has  also  to  be  remembered,  in  any  fair  and  candid 
consideration  of  the  subject,  that  at  this  comparatively 
early  period  of  the  war  even  such  bloody  lessons  as 
Fredericksburg  had  not  sufficed  to  teach  either  the 
commanders  or  their  followers  on  either  side,  Federal 
or  Confederate,  the  full  value,  computed  in  time,  of 
even  a  simple  line  of  breastworks  of  low  relief,  or  the 
cost  in  blood  of  any  attempt  to  eliminate  this  value  of 
time  by  carrying  the  works  at  a  rush.  Indeed,  it  may 
be  doubted  whether,  from  the  beginning  of  the  war 
to  the  end,  this  reasoning,  in  spite  of  all  castigations 
that  resulted  from  disregarding  it,  was  ever  fully  im 
pressed  upon  the  generals  of  either  army,  although 
at  last  there  came,  it  is  true,  a  time  when,  as  at  Cold 
Harbor,  the  men  had  an  opinion  of  their  own,  and 
chose  to  act  upon  it.  It  is  also  very  questionable 
whether  earthworks  manned  by  so  much  as  a  line  of 
skirmishers,  prepared  and  determined  to  defend  them, 
have  ever  been  successfully  assaulted  save  as  the  re 
sult  of  a  surprise.  Sedgwick's  captures  of  the  Rappa- 
hannock  redoubts  and  of  Marye's  Heights  have 
indeed  been  cited  as  instances  to  the  contrary,  yet  on 
closer  consideration  it  is  apparent  that  although  in 
the  former  case  the  Confederates  had  been  looking 
for  an  attack,  they  had  given  up  all  expectation  of 
being  called  on  to  meet  it  that  day,  when,  just  at 
sunset,  Russell  fell  suddenly  upon  them  and  finished 
the  affair  handsomely  before  they  had  time  to  recover. 
Marye's  Heights,  again,  may  be  described  as  a  moral 
surprise,  for  no  Confederate  officer  or  man  that  had 
witnessed  the  bloody  repulse  of  Burnside's  great  army 
on  the  very  same  ground,  but  a  few  weeks  before, 
could  have  expected  to  be  called  on  so  soon  to  meet 
the  swift  and  triumphant  onset  of  a  single  corps  of 


THE  FOURTEENTH  OF  JUNE.  207 

that  army.  Moreover,  Sedgwick's  tactical  arrange 
ments  were  perfect. 

The  truth  is,  the  insignificant  appearance  of  a  line 
of  simple  breastworks  has  almost  always  caused  those 
general  and  staff-officers  especially  that  viewed  them 
through  their  field-glasses,  with  the  diminishing  power 
of  a  long  perspective,  to  forget  that  an  assault  upon 
an  enemy  behind  entrenchments  is  not  so  much  a 
battle  as  a  battue,  where  one  side  stands  to  shoot  and 
the  other  goes  out  to  be  shot,  or  if  he  stops  to  shoot 
it  is  in  plain  sight  of  an  almost  invisible  foe.  Euro 
pean  examples,  as  usual  misapplied  or  misunderstood, 
have  contributed  largely  to  the  persistency  of  this 
fatal  illusion,  and  Ciudad  Rodrigo  and  Badajos  have 
served  but  as  incantations  to  confuse  many  a  mind  to 
which  these  sounding  syllables  were  no  more  than 
names ;  ignorant,  therefore,  of  the  stern  necessities 
that  drove  Wellington  to  these  victories,  forgetful  of 
their  fearful  cost,  and  above  all  ignoring  or  forgetting 
the  axiom,  on  which  rests  the  whole  art  and  science  of 
military  engineering — that  the  highest  and  stoutest  of 
stone  walls  must  yield  at  last  to  the  smallest  trench 
through  which  a  man  may  creep  unseen.  Vast, 
indeed,  is  the  difference  between  an  assault  upon  a 
walled  town,  delivered  as  a  last  resort  after  crowning 
the  glacis  and  opening  wide  the  breach,  and  any  con 
ceivable  movement,  though  bearing  the  same  name, 
made  as  the  first  resort,  against  earthworks  of  the  very 
kind  whereby  walled  towns  are  taken,  approached  over 
ground  unknown  and  perhaps  obstructed. 

Even  so,  in  the  storm  of  Rodrigo  the  defenders 
struck  down  more  than  a  third  of  their  own  numbers ; 
Badajos  was  taken  by  a  happy  chance  after  the  main 
assault  had  miserably  failed  ;  at  both  places  the 


208  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

losses  of  the  assailants  were  in  proportion  less,  and  in 
numbers  but  little  greater,  than  at  Port  Hudson  ;  yet, 
in  the  contemplation  of  the  awful  slaughter  of  Badajos, 
even  the  iron  firmness  of  Wellington  broke  down  in 
a  passion  of  tears. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

UNVEXED  TO  THE  SEA. 

WITH  that  quick  appreciation  of  facts  that  forms  so 
large  a  part  of  the  character  of  the  American  soldier, 
even  to  the  extent  of  exercising  upon  the  fate  of  bat 
tles  and  campaigns  an  influence  not  always  reserved 
for  considerations  derived  from  a  study  of  the  prin 
ciples  of  the  art  of  war,  the  men  of  the  Army  of  the  Gulf 
had  now  made  up  their  minds  that  the  end  sought  was 
to  be  attained  by  hard  work  on  their  part  and  by  starva 
tion  on  the  part  of  the  garrison.  Criticism  and  denun 
ciation,  by  no  means  confined  to  those  officers  whose 
knowledge  of  the  art  of  war  is  drawn  from  books, 
have  been  freely  passed  upon  this  peculiarity,  yet  both 
alike  have  been  wasted,  since  no  proposition  can  be 
clearer  than  that  a  nation,  justly  proud  of  the  superior 
intelligence  of  its  soldiers,  cannot  expect  to  reap  the 
full  advantage  of  that  intelligence  and  at  the  same 
time  escape  every  disadvantage  attending  its  exercise. 
Among  these  drawbacks,  largely  overbalanced  by  the 
obvious  gains,  not  the  least  is  the  peculiar  quality 
that  has  been  aptly  described  in  the  homely  saying, 
"  They  know  too  much."  When,  therefore,  the 
American  volunteer  has  become  a  veteran,  and  has 
reached  his  highest  point  of  discipline,  endurance,  and 
the  simple  sagacity  of  the  soldier,  it  is  often  his  way 
to  stay  his  hand  from  exertions  that  he  deems  need- 
14  209 


210  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

less  and  from  sacrifices  that  he  considers  useless  or 
worse  than  useless,  although  the  same  exertions  and 
the  same  sacrifices  would,  but  a  few  months  earlier  in 
the  days  of  his  inexperience,  have  been  met  by  him 
with  the  same  alacrity  that  the  ignorant  peasant  of 
Europe  displays  in  obeying  the  orders  of  his  heredi 
tary  chief  in  the  service  of  his  king. 

After  the  I4th  of  June  the  siege  progressed  steadily 
without  farther  attempt  at  an  assault.  This  was  now 
deferred  to  the  last  resort.  At  four  points  a  system 
of  comparatively  regular  approaches  was  begun,  and 
upon  these  labor  was  carried  on  incessantly,  night  and 
day ;  indeed,  as  is  usual  with  works  of  this  character, 
the  greatest  progress  was  made  in  the  short  hours  of 
the  June  nights.  The  main  approach  led  from 
Duryea's  battery  No.  12  toward  the  priest-cap,  fol 
lowing  the  windings  of  the  ravines  and  the  contour  of 
the  hill.  When  at  last  the  sap  had,  with  great  toil 
and  danger,  been  carried  to  the  crest  facing  the 
priest-cap,  and  only  a  few  yards  distant,  the  trench 
was  rapidly  and  with  comparative  ease  extended  tow 
ard  the  left,  in  a  line  parallel  with  the  general  direc 
tion  of  the  defences.  The  least  distance  from  this 
third  parallel,  as  it  was  called  by  an  easy  stretch  of 
the  language,  to  the  enemy's  parapet  was  about 
twenty  yards,  the  greatest  about  forty-five. 

About  two  hundred  yards  farther  to  the  right  of 
the  elbow  of  the  main  sap,  a  zigzag  ran  out  of  the 
ravine  on  the  left  flank  of  Bainbridge's  battery,  No. 
8,  toward  the  bastion.  Upon  this  approach,  because 
of  its  directness,  the  use  of  the  sap-roller,  or  some 
equivalent  for  it,  could  never  be  given  up  until  the 
ditch  was  gained. 

From  the  extreme  left,  after  the  northern  slope  of 


UN  VEXED  TO  THE  SEA.  211 

Mount  Pleasant  had  been  gained,  a  main  approach 
was  extended  from  the  flank  of  Roy's  battery  of  20 
pounder  Parrotts,  No.  20,  almost  directly  toward  the 
river,  until  the  trench  cut  the  edge  of  the  bluff,  form 
ing  meanwhile  a  covered  way  that  connected  all  the 
batteries  looking  north  from  the  left  flank.  Of  these 
No.  24  was  the  seventeen-gun  battery,  including  two 
9-inch  Dahlgrens  removed  from  the  naval  battery  of 
the  right  wing,  and  commanded  by  Ensign  Swann. 
On  the  2d  of  July,  Lieutenant-Commander  Terry  took 
command  of  the  Richmond  and  turned  over  the  com 
mand  of  the  right  naval  battery  to  Ensign  Shepard. 
These  "  blue-jacket  "  batteries,  with  their  trim  and 
alert  gun  crews,  were  always  bright  spots  in  the 
sombre  line.  From  the  river  bank  the  sap  ran  with 
five  stretches  of  fifty  or  sixty  yards,  forming  four 
sharp  elbows,  to  the  foot  and  well  up  the  slope  of  the 
steep  hill  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  ravine,  where  the 
Confederates  had  constructed  the  strong  work  known 
to  both  combatants  as  the  Citadel.  From  the  head 
of  the  sap  to  the  nearest  point  of  the  Confederate 
works  the  distance  was  about  ninety-five  yards. 

From  the  ravine  in  front  of  the  mortar  battery  of 
the  left  wing,  No.  18,  a  secondary  approach  was 
carried  to  a  parallel  facing  the  advanced  lunette,  No. 
XXVII.,  and  distant  from  it  375  yards.  The  object  of 
this  approach  was  partly  to  amuse  the  enemy,  partly 
to  prevent  his  breaking  through  the  line,  now  drawn 
out  very  thin,  and  partly  also  to  serve  as  a  foothold 
for  a  column  of  attack  in  case  of  need. 

From  the  ravine  near  Slaughter's  house  a  zigzag, 
constructed  by  the  men  of  the  2ist  Maine,  under  the 
immediate  direction  of  Colonel  Johnson,  led  to  the 
position  of  battery  No.  16,  where  were  posted  the  ten 


212  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

guns  of  Rawles  and  Bains.     The  distance  from  this 
battery  to  the  defences  was  four  hundred  yards. 

On  the  1 5th  of  June,  on  the  heels  of  the  bloody 
repulse  of  the  previous  day,  Banks  issued  a  general 
order  congratulating  his  troops  upon  the  steady  ad 
vance  made  upon  the  enemy's  works,  and  expressed 
his  confidence  in  an  immediate  and  triumphant  issue 
of  the  contest  : 

"  We  are  at  all  points  on  the  threshold  of  his  fortifications,"  the 
order  continues.  "  Only  one  more  advance,  and  they  are  ours  ! 

"  For  the  last  duty  that  victory  imposes,  the  Commanding 
General  summons  the  bold  men  of  the  corps  to  the  organization 
of  a  storming  column  of  a  thousand  men,  to  vindicate  the  flag  of 
the  Union,  and  the  memory  of  its  defenders  who  have  fallen  ! 
Let  them  come  forward  ! 

"  Officers  who  lead  the  column  of  victory  in  this  last  assault 
may  be  assured  of  the  just  recognition  of  their  services  by  pro 
motion  ;  and  every  officer  and  soldier  who  shares  its  perils  and  its 
glory  shall  receive  a  medal  to  commemorate  the  first  grand  success 
of  the  campaign  of  1863  for  the  freedom  of  the  Mississippi.  His 
name  will  be  placed  in  General  Orders  upon  the  Roll  of  Honor." 

Colonel  Henry  W.  Birge,  of  the  I3th  Connecticut, 
at  once  volunteered  to  lead  the  stormers,  and  although 
the  whole  project  was  disapproved  by  many  of  the 
best  officers  and  men  in  the  corps,  partly  as  unneces 
sary  and  partly  because  they  conceived  that  it  implied 
some  reflection  upon  the  conduct  of  the  brave  men 
that  had  fought  and  suffered  and  failed  on  the  27th 
and  the  I4th,  yet  so  general  was  the  feeling  of  confi 
dence  in  Birge  that  within  a  few  days  the  ranks  of 
the  stormers  were  more  than  filled.  As  nearly  as  can 
now  be  ascertained,  the  whole  number  of  officers  who 
volunteered  was  at  least  80 ;  of  enlisted  men  at  least 
956.  Of  these,  17  officers  and  226  men  belonged  to 
the  1 3th  Connecticut.  As  the  different  parties  offered 


UNVEXED  TO  THE  SEA.  213 

and  were  accepted,  they  were  sent  into  camp  in  a 
retired  and  pleasant  spot,  in  a  grove  behind  the  naval 
battery  on  the  right.  On  the  25th  of  June  Birge  was 
ordered  to  divide  his  column  into  two  battalions,  and 
to  drill  it  for  its  work.  On  the  28th  this  organization 
was  complete.  The  battalions  were  then  composed 
of  eight  companies,  but  two  companies  were  after 
wards  added  to  the  first  battalion.  To  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Van  Petten,  of  the  i6oth  New  York,  Birge 
gave  the  command  of  the  first  battalion,  and  to  Lieu 
tenant-Colonel  Bickmore,  of  the  i4th  Maine,  that  of 
the  second  battalion.  On  that  day,  67  of  the  officers 
and  826  men — in  all,  893, — were  present  for  duty  in 
the  camp  of  the  stormers.  Among  those  that  volun 
teered  for  the  forlorn  hope  but  were  not  accepted 
were  54  non-commissioned  officers  and  privates  of 
the  ist  Louisiana  Native  Guards,  and  37  of  the 
3d.  From  among  the  officers  of  the  general  staff 
and  staff  departments  that  were  eager  to  go,  two 
were  selected  to  accompany  the  column  and  keep  up 
the  communication  with  headquarters  and  with  the 
other  troops  ;  these  were  Captain  Duncan  S.  Walker, 
assistant  adjutant-general,  and  Lieutenant  Edmund 
H.  Russell,  of  the  Qth  Pennsylvania  Reserves,  acting 
signal  officer. 

Then  the  officers  and  men  quietly  prepared  them 
selves  for  the  serious  work  expected  of  them.  Those 
that  had  any  thing  to  leave  made  their  wills  in  the 
manner  sanctioned  by  the  custom  of  armies,  and  all 
confided  to  the  hands  of  comrades  the  last  words 
for  their  families  or  their  friends. 

Meanwhile  an  event  took  place,  trifling  in  itself,  yet 
accenting  sharply  some  of  the  more  serious  reasons 
that  had,  in  the  first  instance,  led  Banks  to  resist  the 


214  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

repeated  urging  of  the  government  to  join  Grant  with 
his  whole  force,  and  afterward  had  formed  powerful 
factors  in  determining  him  to  deliver  and  to  renew 
the  assault.  Early  on  the  morning  of  the  i8th  of 
June  a  detachment  of  Confederate  cavalry  rode  into 
the  village  of  Plaquemine,  surprised  the  provost  guard, 
captured  Lieutenant  C.  H.  Witham  and  twenty-two 
men  of  the  28th  Maine,  and  burned  three  steamers 
lying  in  the  bayou,  the  Sykes,  Anglo-American,  and 
Belfast.  Captain  Albert  Stearns,  of  the  i3ist  New 
York,  who  was  stationed  at  Plaquemine  as  provost 
marshal  of  the  parish,  made  his  escape  with  thirteen 
men  of  his  guard.  The  Confederates  were  fired  upon 
by  the  guard  and  lost  one  man  killed  and  two  wounded. 
In  their  turn  they  fired  upon  the  steamboats,  and 
wounded  two  of  the  crew.  Three  hours  later  the 
gunboat  Winona,  Captain  Weaver,  came  down  from 
Baton  Rouge,  and,  shelling  the  enemy,  hastened  their 
departure.  In  the  tension  of  greater  events,  little 
notice  was  taken  at  the  moment  of  this  incident ; 
yet  it  was  not  long  before  it  was  discovered  that  the 
raiders  were  the  advance  guard  of  the  little  army  with 
which  Taylor  was  about  to  invade  La  Fourche,  intent 
upon  the  bold  design  of  raising  the  siege  of  Port 
Hudson  by  blockading  the  river  and  threatening 
New  Orleans. 

Thus  Banks  was  brought  face  to  face  with  the 
condition  described  in  his  letter  of  the  4th  of  June  to 
Halleck  : 

"  The  course  to  be  pursued  here  gives  me  great  anxiety.  If  I 
abandon  Port  Hudson,  I  leave  its  garrison,  some  6,000  or  7,000 
men,  the  force  under  Mouton  and  Sibley,  now  threatening 
Brashear  City  and  the  Army  of  Mobile,  large  or  small,  to  threaten 
or  attack  New  Orleans.  If  I  detach  from  my  command  in  the 


UN  VEXED  TO  THE  SEA.  215 

field  a  sufficient  force  to  defend  that  city,  which  ought  not  to  be 
less  than  8,000  or  10,000,  my  assistance  to  General  Grant  is  un 
important,  and  I  leave  an  equal  or  larger  number  of  the  enemy 
to  reinforce  Johnston.  If  I  defend  New  Orleans  and  its  adjacent 
territory,  the  enemy  will  go  against  Grant.  If  I  go  with  a  force 
sufficient  to  aid  him,  my  rear  will  be  seriously  threatened.  My 
force  is  not  large  enough  to  do  both.  Under  these  circumstances, 
my  only  course  seems  to  be  to  carry  this  post  as  soon  as  possible, 
and  then  to  join  General  Grant.  If  I  abandon  it  I  cannot 
materially  aid  him." 

Taylor's  incursion  caused  Banks  some  anxiety  and 
appreciable  inconvenience,  without,  however,  exer 
cising  a  material  influence  on  the  fortunes  of  the 
siege  ;  accordingly,  it  will  be  better  to  reserve  for 
another  chapter  the  story  of  this  adventure. 

About  the  same  time,  Logan  again  became  trouble 
some.  At  first  he  seems  to  have  thought  of  retiring 
on  Jackson,  Mississippi ;  but  this  Johnston  forbade, 
telling  him  to  stay  where  he  was,  to  observe  and 
annoy  the  besiegers,  and  if  pressed  by  too  strong  a 
force,  to  fall  back  only  so  far  as  necessary,  hindering 
and  retarding  the  advance  of  his  assailants.  By  day 
light,  on  the  morning  of  the  i5th  of  June,  Logan 
dashed  down  the  Clinton  road,  surprised  the  camp  of 
the  1 4th  New  York  cavalry,  who  made  little  resist 
ance,  and  the  guard  of  the  hospital  at  the  Carter 
House,  who  made  none.  In  this  raid  Logan  took 
nearly  one  hundred  disabled  prisoners,  including  six 
officers,  and  carried  off  a  number  of  wagons,  How 
ever,  finding  Grierson  instantly  on  his  heels,  Logan 
promptly  "  fell  back  as  far  as  necessary."  On  the 
evening  of  the  3Oth  of  June,  while  hovering  in  the 
rear  of  Dwight,  Logan  captured  and  carried  off 
Brigadier-General  Dow,  who,  while  waiting  for  his 
wound  to  heal,  had  taken  up  his  headquarters  in  a 


216  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

house  some  distance  behind  the  lines.  At  daylight, 
on  the  morning  of  the  2d  of  July,  Logan  surprised 
the  depot  at  Springfield  Landing,  guarded  by  the 
i62d  New  York,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Blanchard,  and 
a  small  detachment  of  the  i6th  New  Hampshire, 
under  Captain  Hersey.  Careless  picket  duty  was 
the  cause,  and  a  great  stampede  the  consequence, 
but  Logan  hardly  stayed  long  enough  to  find  out 
exactly  what  he  had  accomplished,  since  he  reports 
that,  besides  burning  the  commissary  and  quarter 
masters'  stores,  he  killed  and  wounded  140  of  his 
enemy,  captured  35  prisoners,  fought  an  entire  bri 
gade,  and  destroyed  100  wagons,  with  a  loss  on  his 
part  of  4  killed  and  10  wounded ;  whereas,  in  fact, 
the  entire  loss  of  the  Union  army  was  i  killed, 
1 1  wounded,  2 1  captured  or  missing,  while  the  stores 
burned  consisted  of  a  full  supply  of  clothing  and 
camp  and  garrison  equipment  for  about  1,000  men. 
The  wagons  mentioned  by  Logan  were  part  of  a  train 
met  in  the  road,  cut  out,  and  carried  off  as  he  rapidly 
rode  away,  and  the  number  may  be  correct. 

The  end  of  June  was  now  drawing  near,  and  already 
the  losses  of  the  besiegers  in  the  month  of  constant 
fighting  exceeded  4,000.  At  least  as  many  more  were 
sick  in  the  hospitals,  while  the  reinforcements  from 
every  quarter  barely  numbered  3,000.  There  were  no 
longer  any  reserves  to  draw  from  ;  the  last  man  was 
up.  The  effective  strength  of  all  arms  had  at  no  time 
exceeded  17,000.*  Of  these  less  than  12,000  can  be 
regarded  as  available  for  any  duty  directly  connected 

1  The  figures  here  given  do  not  agree  with  those  of  the  monthly  and  tri- 
monthly  returns  for  May  and  June.  These  returns  are,  however,  simply  the 
returns  for  March  carried  forward,  owing  to  the  impossibility  of  collecting  and 
collating  the  reports  of  regiments,  brigades,  and  divisions  during  active  opera 
tions. 


UN  VEXED  TO  THE  SEA,  217 

with  the  siege,  and  now  every  day  saw  the  command 
growing  smaller  in  numbers,  as  the  men  fell  under  the 
fire  of  the  sharp-shooter,  or  succumbed  to  the  deadly 
climate,  or  gave  out  exhausted  by  incessant  labor  and 
privation.  The  heat  became  almost  insupportable, 
even  to  those  who  from  time  to  time  found  themselves 
so  fortunate  as  to  be  able  to  snatch  a  few  hours'  rest 
in  the  dense  shade  of  the  splendid  forest,  until  their 
tour  of  duty  should  come  again  in  the  trenches,  where, 
under  the  June  sun  beating  upon  and  baking  all  three 
surfaces,  the  parched  clay  became  like  a  reverberating 
furnace.  The  still  air  was  stifling,  but  the  steam  from 
the  almost  tropical  showers  was  far  worse.  Merely  in 
attempting  to  traverse  a  few  yards  of  this  burning 
zone  many  of  the  strongest  men  were  sunstruck  daily. 
The  labor  of  the  siege,  extending  over  so  wide  a  front, 
pressed  so  severely  upon  the  numbers  of  the  besieging 
army,  always  far  too  weak  for  such  an  undertaking  in 
any  climate  at  any  season,  above  all  in  Louisiana  in 
June,  that  the  men  were  almost  incessantly  on  duty, 
either  in  digging,  as  guards  of  the  trenches,  as  sharp 
shooters,  or  on  outpost  service  ;  and  as  the  numbers 
available  for  duty  grew  smaller,  and  the  physical 
strength  of  all  that  remained  in  the  ranks  daily  wasted, 
the  work  fell  the  more  heavily.  When  the  end  came 
at  last  the  effective  force,  outside  of  the  cavalry, 
hardly  exceeded  8,000,  while  even  of  this  small  num 
ber  nearly  every  officer  and  man  might  well  have 
gone  on  the  sick-report  had  not  pride  and  duty  held 
him  to  his  post. 

This  will  seem  the  less  remarkable  when  it  is  re 
membered  that  the  garrison  during  the  same  period 
suffered  in  the  same  proportion,  while  from  like  causes 
less  than  a  year  before  Breckenridge  had,  in  a  much 


218  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

shorter  time,  lost  the  use  of  half  his  division.    Butler's 
experience  had  been  nearly  as  severe. 

To  the  suffering  and  labors  that  are  inseparable 
from  any  operation  in  the  nature  of  a  siege  were 
added  insupportable  torments,  the  least  of  which  were 
vermin.  As  the  summer  days  drew  out  and  the  heat 
grew  more  intense,  the  brooks  dried  up  ;  the  creek 
lost  itself  in  the  pestilential  swamp ;  the  wells  and 
springs  gave  out ;  the  river  fell,  exposing  to  the  almost 
tropical  sun  a  wide  margin  of  festering  ooze.  The 
mortality  and  the  sickness  were  enormous. 

The  animals  suffered  in  their  turn,  the  battery 
horses  from  want  of  exercise,  the  train  horses  and 
mules  from  over-work,  and  all  from  the  excessive  heat 
and  insufficiency  of  proper  forage.  There  was  never 
enough  hay ;  the  deficiency  was  partly  eked  out  by 
making  fodder  of  the  standing  corn,  but  this  resource 
was  quickly  exhausted,  and  after  the  3d  of  July,  when 
Taylor  sealed  the  river  by  planting  his  guns  below 
Donaldsonville,  all  the  animals  went  upon  half  or 
quarter  rations  of  grain,  with  little  hay  or  none.  At 
length,  for  two  or  three  days,  the  forage  depots  fairly 
gave  out ;  the  poor  beasts  were  literally  starving  when 
the  place  fell,  nor  was  it  for  nearly  a  week  after  that 
event  that,  by  the  raising  of  Taylor's  blockade  below 
and  the  arrival  of  supplies  from  Grant  above,  the 
stress  was  wholly  relieved. 

The  two  colored  regiments,  the  ist  and  3d  Louisi 
ana  Native  Guards,  besides  strongly  picketing  their 
front,  were  mainly  occupied,  after  the  2/th  of  May,  in 
fatigue  duty  in  the  trenches  on  the  right.  While  the 
army  was  in  the  Teche  country,  Brigadier-General 
Daniel  Ullmann  had  arrived  at  New  Orleans  from 
New  York,  bringing  with  him  authority  to  raise  a 


UNVEXED  TO  THE  SEA.  219 

brigade  of  colored  troops.  With  him  came  a  full 
complement  of  officers.  A  few  days  later,  on  the 
ist  of  May,  Banks  issued,  at  Opelousas,  an  order, 
which  he  had  for  some  time  held  in  contemplation, 
for  organizing  a  corps  of  eighteen  regiments  of  col 
ored  infantry,  to  consist,  at  first,  of  five  hundred  men 
each.  These  troops  were  to  form  a  distinct  com 
mand,  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of  the  Corps  d'Af- 
rique,  and  in  it  he  incorporated  Ullmann's  brigade. 
By  the  end  of  May  Ullmann  had  enrolled  about  1,400 
men  for  five  regiments,  the  6th,  7th,  8th,  gth,  and 
loth.  These  recruits,  as  yet  unarmed  and  undrilled, 
were  now  brought  to  Port  Hudson,  organized,  and  set 
to  work  in  the  trenches  and  upon  the  various  siege 
operations. 

About  the  same  time  the  formation  of  a  regiment 
of  engineer  troops  was  undertaken,  composed  of 
picked  men  of  color,  formed  in  three  battalions  of  four 
companies  each,  under  white  officers  carefully  chosen 
from  among  the  veterans.  The  ranks  of  this  regi 
ment,  known  as  the  ist  Louisiana  engineers,  were 
soon  recruited  to  above  a  thousand  ;  the  strength  for 
duty  wras  about  eight  hundred.  Under  the  skilful 
handling  of  Colonel  Justin  Hodge  it  rendered  valua 
ble  service  throughout  the  siege. 

Company  K  of  the  42d  Massachusetts,  commanded 
by  Lieutenant  Henry  A.  Harding,  had  for  some 
months  been  serving  as  pontoniers,  in  charge  of  the 
bridge  train.  During  the  siege  it  did  good  and  hard 
work  in  all  branches  of  field  engineering  under  the 
immediate  direction  of  the  Chief  Engineer. 

While  at  Opelousas,  Banks  had  applied  to  Halleck 
to  order  Brigadier-General  Charles  P.  Stone  to  duty 
in  the  Department  of  the  Gulf.  Stone  had  been 


220  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

without  assignment  since  his  release,  in  the  preceding 
August,  from  his  long  and  lonely  imprisonment  in  the 
casemates  of  the  harbor  forts  of  New  York,  and,  up 
to  this  moment,  every  suggestion  looking  to  his  em 
ployment  had  met  the  stern  disapproval  of  the  Secre 
tary  of  War.  Even  when  in  the  first  flush  of  finding 
himself  at  last  at  the  top  notch  of  his  career,  Hooker, 
in  firm  possession,  as  he  believed,  of  the  post  he  had 
long  coveted,  as  commander  of  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac,  had  asked  for  Stone  as  his  Chief  of  Staff, 
the  request  had  been  met  by  a  flat  refusal.  A  differ 
ent  fate  awaited  Banks's  application.  On  the  7th  of 
May  Halleck  issued  the  orders  asked  for,  and  in  the 
last  days  of  the  month  Stone  reported  for  duty  be 
fore  Port  Hudson.  At  first  Banks  was  rather  embar 
rassed  by  the  gift  he  had  solicited,  for  he  saw  that 
he  himself  was  falling  into  disfavor  at  Washington  ; 
the  moment  was  critical ;  and  it  was  easy  to  perceive 
how  disaster,  or  even  the  slightest  check,  might  be 
magnified  in  the  shadows  of  Ball's  Bluff  and  Fort 
Lafayette.  Moreover,  Stone  was  equally  unknown 
to  and  unknown  by  the  troops  of  the  Nineteenth 
Army  Corps.  Instead,  therefore,  of  giving  him  the 
command  of  Sherman's  division,  for  which  his  rank 
indicated  him,  Banks  kept  Stone  at  headquarters 
without  special  assignment,  and  made  every  use  of 
his  activity,  as  well  as  of  his  special  knowledge 
and  ready  skill  in  all  matters  relating  to  ordnance 
and  gunnery. 

On  the  evening  of  the  26th  of  June  a  strange  thing 
happened.  While  it  was  yet  broad  daylight  Colonel 
Provence  of  the  i6th  Arkansas,  posted  in  rear  of  the 
position  of  battery  XXIV,  discovering  and  annoyed 
by  the  progress  made  on  battery  16  in  his  front,  sent 


UNVEXED  TO  THE  SEA.  221 

out,  one  at  a  time,  two  bold  men,  named  Mieres  and 
Parker,  to  see  what  was  going  on.  After  nightfall,  on 
their  report,  he  despatched  thirty  volunteers,  under 
Lieutenant  McKennon,  to  drive  off  the  guard  and  the 
working  party  and  to  destroy  the  work.  The  position 
was  held  by  the  advance  guard  of  the  2ist  Maine, 
under  Lieutenant  Bartlett,  who,  for  some  reason  hard 
to  understand,  ordered  his  men  not  to  fire.  The  Ar 
kansas  party,  therefore,  accomplished  its  purpose 
without  further  casualty  than  having  one  man  knocked 
down,  as  he  was  leaping  the  parapet  of  the  trench,  by 
a  soldier  who  happened  to  consider  his  orders  as  in 
applicable  to  this  method  of  defence.  Then  Major 
Merry,  with  the  reserves  of  the  2ist,  coming  promptly 
to  the  rescue,  easily  drove  out  the  enterprising  assail 
ants,  with  whom  went  as  prisoners  Lieutenant  Bart 
lett  and  five  of  his  men,  with  fourteen  muskets  that 
had  not  been  fired.1 

As  the  saps  in  front  of  Bainbridge's  and  Duryea's 
batteries  drew  every  day  nearer  to  the  bastion  and 
the  priest-cap,  the  working  parties  were  harassed  and 
began  to  be  greatly  delayed  by  the  unceasing  fire  of 
the  Confederate  sharp-shooters.  Moreover,  in  spite 
of  the  vigilance  of  the  sharp-shooters  in  the  trenches, 
their  adversaries  had  so  much  the  advantage  of 
ground  that  they  were  able  to  render  the  passage  of 
certain  exposed  points  of  the  approaches  slow  and 
hazardous.  At  first,  cotton  bales  were  used  to  pro 
tect  the  head  of  the  sap,  but  these  the  adventurous 
enemy  set  alight  with  blazing  arrows  or  by  sallies  of 
small  parties  under  cover  of  darkness.  In  the  short 

1  Colonel  Provence,  in  his  report,  claims  7  prisoners,  and  says  :  "  The  enemy 
fired  but  once,  and  then  at  a  great  elevation."  (Official  Records,  vol.  xxvi., 
part  i.,  p.  150.) 


222  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

night  it  was'  impossible  to  raise  a  pile  of  sand-bags 
high  enough  to  overlook  the  breastworks.  Toward 
the  end  of  June  this  was  changed  in  a  single  night  by 
the  skill  and  ingenuity  of  Colonel  Edward  Prince,  of 
the  7th  Illinois  cavalry. 

Happening  to  be  at  headquarters  when  the  trouble 
was  being  talked  about,  he  heard  an  officer  suggest 
making  use  of  the  empty  hogsheads  at  the  sugar- 
house  ;  how  to  get  them  to  the  trenches  was  the  next 
question.  This  he  promptly  offered  to  solve  if  simply 
ordered  to  do  it  and  left  to  himself.  Cavalry  had 
never  been  of  any  use  in  a  siege,  he  said  ;  it  was 
time  for  a  change.  The  order  was  instantly  given. 
Prince  swung  himself  into  the  saddle  and  rode 
away.  Before  daylight  his  men  had  carried  through 
the  woods  and  over  the  hills  to  the  mouth  of  the 
sap,  opposite  the  southern  angle  of  the  priest-cap, 
enough  sugar  hogsheads  to  make  two  tiers.  The 
heads  had  been  knocked  in,  a  long  pole  thrust 
through  each  hogshead,  and  thus  slung,  it  was  easy 
for  two  mounted  troopers  to  carry  it  between  them. 
Quietly  rolled  into  position  by  the  working  parties  and 
rapidly  filled  with  earth,  a  rude  platform  erected  be 
hind  for  the  sharp-shooter  to  mount  upon,  with*  a  few 
sand-bags  thrown  on  top  to  protect  his  head, — this 
was  the  beginning  of  the  great  trench  cavalier,  whose 
frowning  crest  the  astonished  Confederates  awoke  the 
next  morning  to  find  towering  high  above  their  heads. 
Afterwards  enlarged  and  strengthened,  it  finally 
dominated  the  whole  line  of  defence  not  only  in 
its  immediate  front,  but  for  a  long  distance  on  either 
side. 

Not  less  ingenious  was  the  device  almost  instinct 
ively  resorted  to  by  the  artillerists  for  the  safety  of 


UNVEXED  TO  THE  SEA.  223 

the  gunners  when,  after  the  siege  batteries  opened, 
the  Confederate  sharp-shooters  began  picking  off 
every  head  that  came  in  sight.  The  first  day  saw  a 
number  of  gunners  stricken  in  the  act  of  taking  aim, 
an  incident  not  conducive  to  deliberation  or  accuracy 
on  the  part  of  their  successors  at  the  guns.  The 
next  sunrise  saw  every  exposed  battery,  from  right  to 
left,  protected  by  a  hinged  shutter  made  of  flat  iron 
chiefly  taken  from  the  sugar  troughs,  covered  with 
strips  of  rawhide  from  the  commissary's,  the  space 
stuffed  tight  with  loose  cotton,  and  a  hole  made 
through  all,  big  enough  for  the  gunner's  eye,  but  too 
small  for  the  sharp-shooter's  bullet.  Such  was  substan 
tially  the  plan  simultaneously  adopted  at  three  or 
four  different  points  and  afterwards  followed  every 
where.  The  remedy  was  perfect. 

On  the  3d  of  July  arrangements  were  made  for  the 
daily  detail  of  a  brigade  commander  to  act  as  Gen 
eral  of  the  Trenches  during  a  tour  of  twenty-four 
hours,  from  noon  to  noon.  His  duties  were  to  super 
intend  the  siege  operations,  to  post  the  guards  of  the 
trenches,  to  repulse  sorties,  and  to  protect  the  works. 
The  works  to  be  constructed  were  indicated  and  laid 
out  by  the  Chief  Engineer,  whose  duties,  after  the 
1 7th  of  June,  when  Major  Houston  fell  seriously  ill, 
were  performed  by  Captain  John  C.  Palfrey,  aided 
and  overlooked  by  General  Andrews,  the  Chief  of 
Staff.  Daily,  at  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning,  the 
General  of  the  Trenches  and  the  Chief  Engineer 
made  separate  reports  to  headquarters  of  everything 
that  had  happened  during  the  previous  day.  Each 
of  these  officers  made  five  reports,  yet  of  the  ten  but 
two  are  to  be  found  printed  among  the  Official 
Records.  These  are  the  engineer's  reports  of  work 


224  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

done  on  the  5th  and  6th  of  July.  They  contain 
almost  the  only  details  of  the  siege  to  be  gathered 
from  the  record,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  every 
paper,  however  small,  or  irregular  in  size  or  form,  or 
apparently  unimportant  in  substance,  that  related  in 
any  way  to  the  military  operations  of  the  Army  of 
the  Gulf  was  carefully  preserved  on  the  files  of  its 
Adjutant-General's  office,  where,  for  safety  as  well  as 
convenience,  documents  of  this  character  were  kept 
separate  from  the  ordinary  files  covering  matters  of 
routine  and  requiring  to  be  handled  every  day  or 
hour.  The  proof  is  strong  that  these  important 
records  were  in  due  time  delivered  into  the  custody 
of  the  War  Office,  where,  for  a  considerable  period 
after  the  close  of  the  war,  little  or  no  care  seems  to 
have  been  taken  of  the  documents  thus  turned  in  by 
the  several  Corps  and  Departments,  as  these  were 
discontinued  ;  and  although  the  care  and  manage 
ment  of  the  War  Records  division  of  the  Adjutant- 
General's  Office  at  Washington  has,  from  its  earliest 
organization,  been  such  as  to  deserve  the  highest 
admiration,  yet  many  of  these  papers  are  not  to  be 
found  there.  The  probability  is  that  they  were  either 
mislaid  or  else  swept  away  and  destroyed  before  this 
office  was  organized. 

Palfrey's  report  for  the  5th  of  July  shows  the  left 
cavalier  finished  and  occupied,  and  the  right  cavalier 
nearly  finished,  but  constantly  injured  by  a  24-pounder 
gun  that  had  so  far  escaped  destruction  by  the  artil 
lery  of  the  besiegers.  The  sap  in  front  of  Bain- 
bridge's  battery,  No.  8,  was  advanced  about  twenty 
yards  during  this  day,  and  the  parallel  in  front  of  the 
priest-cap  extended  to  the  left  eleven  yards ;  work 
was  greatly  retarded  by  a  heavy  rain  in  the  night. 


UNVEXED  TO  THE  SEA.  225 

The  mine  was  so  far  advanced  that  a  shaft  was  begun 
to  run  obliquely  under  the  salient,  this  course  being 
chosen  instead  of  the  usual  plan  of  a  vertical  shaft  with 
enveloping  galleries,  as  shorter  in  time  and  distance, 
although  more  dangerous. 

On  the  6th  the  sap  was  pushed  forward  forty-two 
feet,  and  the  parallel  carried  to  the  left  sixty-five  feet. 
The  mine  shaft,  begun  the  day  before,  was  carried 
about  twenty-seven  feet  underground,  directly  toward 
the  salient.  The  cavaliers  were  finished. 

During  the  7th,  although  there  is  no  report  for  that 
day,  the  shaft  for  the  mine  under  the  priest-cap  was 
finished,  the  chamber  itself  excavated  and  charged 
with  about  twelve  hundred  pounds  of  powder,  and  the 
mine  tamped  with  sand-bags.  The  mine  on  the  left 
had  been  ready  for  some  days  ;  it  was  now  charged 
with  fifteen  hundred  pounds  of  powder  and  tamped. 

Heavy  thunder-storms,  accompanied  by  warm  rain, 
had  been  frequent  of  late,  and  the  night  dews  had 
been  at  times  heavy.  Accordingly  it  was  thought 
best  not  to  trust  so  delicate  an  operation  as  the  explo 
sion  of  the  mines  to  the  chance  of  a  damp  fuse.  Day 
break  on  the  Qth  of  July  having  been  set  as  the  hour 
for  the  simultaneous  explosion  of  the  mines,  to  be  in 
stantly  followed  by  one  last  rush  through  the  gaps, 
Captain  Walker  was  sent  on  the  evening  of  the  7th, 
to  the  Richmond  to  ask  for  dry  fuses  from  the  maga 
zines  of  the  Navy. 

Meanwhile  events  were  moving  rapidly  to  an  end. 
In  the  early  morning  of  Tuesday,  the  7th,  the  gun 
boat  General  Price,  came  down  the  river  bringing 
the  great  news  that  Vicksburg  had  surrendered  to 
Grant  on  the  4th  of  July.  Commodore  Palmer,  on 

board  the  Hartford,  was  the  first  to  receive  the  news, 

15 


226  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

but  for  some  reason  it  happened  that  signal  com 
munication  was  obstructed  or  suspended  between  the 
Hartford  and  headquarters,  so  that  it  was  not  until  a 
quarter  before  eleven  that  Colonel  Kilby  Smith,  of 
Grant's  staff,  delivered  to  Banks  the  welcome  message 
of  which  he  was  the  bearer. 

In  less  time  than  it  takes  to  tell,  an  aide-de-camp 
was  on  his  way  to  the  General  of  the  Trenches  bear 
ing  the  brief  announcement,  "  Vicksburg  surrendered 
on  the  4th  of  July."  This  note,  written  upon  the 
thin  manifold  paper  of  the  field  order-books,  the  Gen 
eral  of  the  Trenches  was  directed  to  wrap  securely 
around  a  clod  of  clay — the  closest  approach  to  a 
stone  to  be  found  in  all  the  lowlands  of  Louisiana— 
and  toss  it  over  into  the  enemy's  works.  At  the 
same  time  the  good  news  was  sped  by  wire  and  by 
staff  officers  to  the  commanders  of  divisions.  At 
noon  a  national  salute  was  to  be  fired  and  all  the 
bands  were  to  play  the  national  airs  ;  but  the  men 
could  not  wait  for  these  slow  formalities.  No  sooner 
was  the  first  loud  shout  of  rejoicing  heard  from  the 
trenches,  where  for  so  many  weary  nights  and  days 
there  had  been  little  to  rejoice  at,  than  by  a  sort  of 
instinct  the  men  of  both  armies  seem  to  have  divined 
what  had  happened.  From  man  to  man,  from  com 
pany  to  company,  from  regiment  to  regiment,  the 
word  passed,  and  as  it  passed,  once  more  the  cheers 
of  the  soldiers  of  the  Union  rang  out,  and  again  the 
forest  echoed  with  the  strains  of  "  The  Star-Spangled 
Banner"  from  the  long-silent  bands.  Many  a  rough 
cheek,  unused  to  tears,  was  wet  that  morning,  and  the 
sound  of  laughter  was  heard  from  many  lips  that  had 
long  been  set  in  silence  ;  but  when  the  first  thrill  was 
spent,  it  gave  way  to  a  deep-drawn  sigh  of  relief. 


UNVEXED  TO  THE  SEA.  227 

The  work  was  done,  all  the  toil  and  suffering  was 
over.  Nor  was  this  feeling  restricted  to  the  outside 
of  the  parapet ;  the  defenders  felt  it  even  more 
strongly.  At  first  they  received  the  news  with  real 
or  affected  incredulity.  An  officer  of  an  Arkansas 
regiment,  to  whom  was  first  handed  the  little  scrap  of 
tissue  paper  on  which  the  whole  chapter  of  history 
was  told  in  seven  words,  acknowledged  the  compli 
ment  by  calling  back,  "  This  is  another  damned  Yan 
kee  lie ! "  Yet  before  many  minutes  were  over  the 
firing  had  died  away,  save  here  and  there  a  scattering 
exception,  although  peremptory  orders  were  even  given 
to  secure  its  renewal.  In  spite  of  everything  the  men 
began  to  mingle  and  to  exchange  story  for  story, 
gibe  for  gibe,  coffee  for  corn-beer,  and  when  night 
fell  there  can  have  been  few  men  in  either  army  but 
believed  the  fighting  was  over. 

That  evening  Gardner  summoned  his  commanders 
to  meet  him  in  council.  Among  them  all  there  was 
but  one  thought — the  end  had  come. 

Shortly  after  half-past  twelve  the  notes  of  a  bugle 
were  heard  on  the  Plains  Store  road  sounding  the  sig 
nal,  "  Cease  firing."  A  few  seconds  later  an  officer  with 
a  small  escort  approached,  bearing  a  lantern  swung 
upon  a  long  pole,  with  a  white  handkerchief  tied  be 
neath  it,  to  serve  as  a  flag  of  truce.  At  the  outpost 
of  Charles  J.  Paine's  brigade  the  flag  was  halted  and 
its  purpose  ascertained.  This  was  announced  to  be 
the  delivery  of  an  important  despatch  from  Gardner 
to  Banks.  Thus  it  was  that  a  few  minutes  after  one 
o'clock  the  hoofs  of  two  horses  were  heard  at  the 
same  instant  at  headquarters,  yet  each  with  a  sound 
of  its  own  that  seemed  in  keeping  with  its  story. 
One,  a  slow  and  measured  trot,  told  of  duty  done  and 


228  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

stables  near ;  the  other,  quick  and  nervous,  spoke  of 
pressing  news.  Two  officers  dismounted  ;  the  clang 
of  their  sabres  was  heard  together ;  together  they 
made  their  way  to  the  tent  where  the  writer  of  these 
lines  lay  awake  and  listening.  One  was  Captain 
Walker,  with  the  fuse,  the  other  was  Lieutenant  Or- 
ton  S.  Clark,  of  the  n6th  New  York,  then  attached 
to  the  staff  of  Charles  J.  Paine.  The  long  envelope 
he  handed  in  felt  rough  to  the  touch  ;  the  light  of  a 
match  showed  its  color  a  dull  gray ;  every  inch  of  it 
said,  "  Surrender." 

When  opened  it  was  found  to  contain  a  request  for 
an  official  assurance  as  to  the  truth  of  the  report  that 
Vicksburg  had  surrendered.  If  true,  Gardner  asked 
for  a  cessation  of  hostilities  with  a  view  to  consider 
terms.  At  a  quarter-past  one  Banks  replied,  convey 
ing  an  exact  copy  of  so  much  of  Grant's  despatch  as 
related  the  capitulation  of  Vicksburg.  He  told  when 
and  how  the  despatch  had  come,  and  wound  up  by 
regretting  that  he  could  not  consent  to  a  truce  for 
the  purpose  indicated.  In  order  to  avoid  all  chance 
of  needless  excitement  or  disturbance,  as  well  as  of 
the  premature  publication  of  the  news,  the  Adjutant- 
General  carried  this  despatch  himself,  and,  accom 
panied  by  Lieutenant  Clark,  as  well  as,  at  his  own 
request,  by  General  Stone,  rode  first  to  Augur's  head 
quarters  to  acquaint  him  with  the  news  and  to  borrow 
a  bugler,  and  then  to  the  outposts  to  meet  the  Con 
federate  flag  of  truce.  A  blast  upon  the  bugle  brought 
back  the  little  party  of  horsemen,  with  the  lantern 
swaying  from  the  pole  ;  but  it  was  nearly  daylight 
before  they  again  returned  with  Gardner's  reply. 
Meanwhile,  right  and  left  word  had  been  quietly 
passed  to  the  pickets  to  cease  firing. 


UN  VEXED  TO  THE  SEA.  229 

In  his  second  letter  Gardner  said  : 

"  Having  defended  this  position  as  long  as  I  deem  my  duty 
requires,  I  am  willing  to  surrender  to  you,  and  will  appoint  a 
commission  of  three  officers  to  meet  a  similar  commission,  ap 
pointed  by  yourself,  at  nine  o'clock  this  morning,  for  the  purpose 
of  agreeing  upon  and  drawing  up  the  terms  of  surrender,  and  for 
that  purpose  I  ask  a  cessation  of  hostilities.  Will  you  please 
designate  a  point  outside  of  my  breastworks  where  a  meeting 
shall  be  held  for  this  purpose  ?  " 

To  this  Banks  answered  at  4:30  A.M.  : 

"  I  have  designated  Brigadier-General  Charles  P.  Stone,  Colo 
nel  Henry  W.  Birge,  and  Lieutenant-Colonel  Richard  B.  Irwin 
as  the  officers  to  meet  the  commission  appointed  by  you.  They 
will  meet  your  officers  at  the  hour  designated  at  a  point  near 
where  the  flag  of  truce  was  received  this  morning.  I  will  direct 
that  all  active  hostilities  shall  entirely  cease  on  my  part  until 
further  notice  for  the  purpose  stated." 

The  division  commanders,  as  well  as  the  command 
ers  of  the  upper  and  lower  fleets,  were  at  once  notified, 
and  at  six  o'clock  Captain  Walker  was  sent  to  find 
Admiral  Farragut,  wherever  he  might  be,  and  to  de 
liver  to  him  despatches  conveying  the  news  of  the 
surrender,  outlining  Banks's  plans  for  moving  against 
Taylor  in  La  Fourche,  and  urging  the  Admiral  to  send 
all  the  light-draught  gunboats  at  once  to  Berwick  Bay. 

Banks  meant  to  march  Weitzel  directly  to  the  near 
est  landing,  which  was  within  the  lines  of  Port  Hud 
son,  as  soon  as  the  formal  capitulation  should  be 
accomplished,  and  to  send  Grover  after  him  as  fast 
as  steamboats  could  be  found.  This  called  for  many 
arrangements ;  the  occupying  force  had  also  to  be 
seen  to ;  and  finally,  it  was  necessary  that  the  starving 
garrison  should  be  fed.  Colonel  Irwin  was  therefore 
relieved,  at  his  own  request,  from  duty  as  one  of  the 


230  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

commissioners,  and  Brigadier-General  Dwight  was 
named  in  his  stead.  This  drew  an  objection  from 
Weitzel,  who  naturally  felt  that  there  were  claims  of 
service  as  well  as  of  rank  that  might  have  been  con 
sidered  before  those  of  the  temporary  commander  of 
the  second  division  ;  however,  it  was  too  late  to  make 
any  further  change,  and  when  Banks  offered  to  name 
Weitzel,  whose  protest  had  been  not  for  himself  but 
for  his  brigades,  as  the  officer  to  receive  Gardner's 
sword,  the  offer  was  declined.  Among  the  officers  of 
the  navy,  too,  especially  those  of  the  higher  grades, 
great  cause  of  offense  was  felt  that,  after  all  their 
services  in  the  siege,  they  were  left  unrepresented  in 
the  honors  of  the  surrender.  This  feeling  was  natural 
enough  ;  yet  before  determining  how  far  the  com 
plaints  based  on  it  were  just,  it  is  necessary  to 
consider  how  important  was  every  hour,  almost 
every  moment,  with  reference  to  the  operations 
against  Taylor,  while  three  and  a  half  hours  were 
required  to  make  the  journey  between  headquarters 
and  the  upper  fleet,  and  four  and  a  half  hours  to 
reach  the  lower  fleet.  Moreover,  the  Admiral  had 
gone  to  New  Orleans  the  evening  before. 

At  nine  the  commissioners  met  under  the  shade  of 
the  beautiful  trees,  nearly  on  the  spot  where  O'Brien 
had  rested  among  his  men  while  waiting  for  the  word 
on  the  27th  of  May.  On  the  Confederate  side  the 
commissioners  were  Colonel  William  R.  Miles,  com 
manding  the  right  wing  of  the  garrison,  Colonel  I. 
G.  W.  Steedman,  of  the  ist  Alabama,  commanding 
the  left  wing,  and  Lieutenant-Colonel  Marshall  J. 
Smith,  Chief  of  Heavy  Artillery. 

Among  those  thus  brought  together  there  was 
more  than  one  gentleman  of  marked  conversational 


UNVEXED  TO  THE  SEA.  231 

talent ;  the  day  was  pleasant,  the  shade  grateful,  and, 
to  one  side  at  least,  the  refreshment  not  less  so  ;  and 
thus  the  time  passed  pleasantly  until  two  o'clock, 
when  the  commissioners  signed,  with  but  a  single 
change,  the  articles  that  had  been  drawn  up  for 
them  and  in  readiness  since  six  in  the  morning.  The 
alteration  was  occasioned  by  the  great  and  unexpected 
length  to  which  the  conference  had  been  protracted. 
Five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  had  been  named  as  the 
time  when  the  besiegers  were  to  occupy  the  works  ; 
this  had  to  be  changed  to  seven  o'clock  on  the  morn- 
of  the  9th.  The  terms,  which  will  be  found  in  full  in 
the  Appendix,  were  those  of  an  unconditional  surren 
der.  Gardner,  who  was  in  waiting  conveniently  near, 
at  once  approved  the  articles,  and  at  half-past  two 
they  were  completed  by  the  signature  of  Banks.  A 
few  minutes  later  the  long  wagon-train,  loaded  with 
provisions,  that  had  been  standing  for  hours  in  the 
Plains  Store  road,  was  signalled  to  go  forward.  The 
cheers  that  welcomed  the  train,  as  it  wound  its  way 
up  the  long-untravelled  road  and  through  the  disused 
sally-port,  were  perhaps  not  so  loud  as  those  with 
which  the  besiegers  had  greeted  the  news  from  Vicks- 
burg,  yet  they  were  not  less  enthusiastic.  From  this 
moment  the  men  of  the  two  armies,  and  to  some 
extent  the  officers,  mingled  freely. 

Andrews  was  designated  to  receive  the  surrender, 
and  from  each  division  two  of  the  best  regiments,  with 
one  from  Weitzel's  brigade,  were  told  off  to  occupy 
the  place. 

Punctually  at  seven  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the 
9th  of  July  the  column  of  occupation  entered  the 
sally-port  on  the  Jackson  road.  At  its  head  rode 
Andrews  with  his  staff.  Next,  in  the  post  of  honor, 


232  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

came  the  stormers  with  Birge  at  their  head,  then  the 
75th  New  York  of  Weitzel's  brigade,  followed  by  the 
1 1 6th  New  York  and  the  26.  Louisiana  of  Augur's 
division,  the  i2th  Maine,  and  the  I3th  Connecticut 
of  Grover's  division,  the  6th  Michigan  and  the  i4th 
Maine  of  Dwight's  division,  the  4th  Wisconsin  and 
the  8th  New  Hampshire  of  Paine' s.1  With  the  col 
umn  was  Duryea's  battery.  The  38th  Massachusetts 
was  at  first  designated  for  this  coveted  honor,  but 
lost  it  through  some  necessary  changes  due  to  the  in 
tended  movement  down  the  river.  Weitzel,  with  his 
own  brigade  under  Thomas,  on  the  way  to  the  place 
of  embarkation,  closely  followed  the  column  and  wit 
nessed  the  ceremonies. 

These  were  simple  and  short.  The  Confederate 
troops  were  drawn  up  in  line,  Gardner  at  their  head, 
every  officer  in  his  place.  The  right  of  the  line  rested 
on  the  edge  of  the  open  plain  south  of  the  railway 
station  ;  the  left  extended  toward  the  village.  At  the 
word  "  Ground  arms  "  from  their  tried  commander, 
followed  by  the  command  of  execution  from  the  bugles, 
every  Confederate  soldier  bowed  his  head  and  laid  his 
musket  on  the  ground  in  token  of  submission,  while 
Gardner  himself  tendered  his  sword  to  Andrews,  who, 
in  a  few  complimentary  words,  waived  its  acceptance. 
At  the  same  instant  the  Stars  and  Bars,  the  colors  of 
the  Confederacy,  were  hauled  down  from  the  flagstaff, 
where  they  had  so  long  waved  defiance  ;  a  detachment 
of  sailors  from  the  naval  batteries  sprang  to  the  hal 
yards  and  rapidly  ran  up  the  flag  of  the  United  States  ; 
the  guns  of  Duryea's  battery  saluted  the  colors ;  the 
garrison  filed  off  as  prisoners  of  war,  and  all  was  over. 

1  No  record  exists  of  these  details,  but  the  list  here  given  is  believed  to  be 
nearly  correct. 


UNVEXED  TO  THE  SEA.  233 

The  last  echo  of  the  salute  to  the  colors  had  hardly 
died  away  when  Weitzel,  at  the  head  of  the  First 
Division,  now  for  the  first  time  united,  marched  off  to 
the  left,  and  began  embarking  on  board  the  trans 
ports  to  go  against  Taylor. 

With  the  place  were  taken  6,340  prisoners  of  war, 
of  whom  405  were  officers  and  5,935  enlisted  men. 
The  men  were  paroled  with  the  exact  observance  of 
all  the  forms  prescribed  by  the  cartel  then  in  force  ; 
yet  the  paroles  were  immediately  declared  void  by  the 
Confederate  government,  and  the  men  were  required 
to  return  to  duty  in  the  ranks.  The  officers,  in 
accordance  with  the  retaliatory  orders  of  the  period, 
had  to  be  kept  in  captivity ;  they  were,  however, 
given  the  choice  of  their  place  of  confinement. 
About  2 1 1  elected  to  go  to  Memphis,  and  were  ac 
cordingly  sent  up  the  river  a  few  days  after  the  sur 
render,  the  remainder  were  sent  to  New  Orleans  with 
instructions  to  Emory  to  keep  them  safely  under 
guard  in  some  commodious  house  or  houses,  to  be 
selected  by  him,  and  to  make  them  as  comfortable  as 
practicable.1  There  were  also  captured  20  pieces  of 
light  artillery  and  31  pieces  of  field  artillery  ;  of  these 
12  heavy  guns  and  30  light  guns  were  in  compara 
tively  good  order. 

The  total  losses  of  the  Corps  during  the  siege 
were  45  officers  and  663  men  killed,  191  officers  and 
3,145  men  wounded,  12  officers  and  307  men  captured 
or  missing  ;  in  all,  4,363.  Very  few  prisoners  were 
taken  by  the  Confederates,  and  little  doubt  remains 


1  As  evidence  of  the  considerate  manner  in  which  these  gentlemen  were 
treated  see  the  interesting  article,  "  Plain  Living  on  Johnson's  Island,"  by 
Lieutenant  Horace  Carpenter,  4th  Louisiana,  printed  in  the  Century  for  March, 
1891,  page  706. 


234  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

that  a  large  proportion  of  those  set  down  as  captured 
or  missing  in  reality  perished. 

Of  the  Confederate  losses  no  complete  return  was 
ever  made.  A  partial  return,  without  date,  signed  by 
the  chief  surgeon,  shows  176  killed,  447  wounded, 
total  623.  In  this  report  the  number  of  those  that 
had  died  in  the  hospital  is  included  among  the 
wounded.  Nor  does  this  total  include  the  losses  at 
Plains  Store,  which,  according  to  the  surgeon's  return, 
were  12  killed  and  36  wounded,  or,  according  to  Colo 
nel  Miles's  report,  8  killed,  23  wounded,  58  missing  ; 
in  all,  89.  Major  C.  M.  Jackson,  who  acted  as  assist 
ant  inspector-general  under  Gardner,  and,  according 
to  his  own  account,  came  out  through  the  lines  of 
investment  about  an  hour  after  the  surrender,  reported 
to  Johnston  that  the  total  casualties  during  the  siege 
were  200  killed,  between  300  and  400  wounded,  and 
200  died  from  sickness. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

HARROWING   LA  FOURCHE. 

IT  will  be  remembered  that  when  Banks  marched 
to  Opelousas,  Taylor's  little  army,  greatly  depleted 
by  wholesale  desertions  and  hourly  wearing  away  by 
the  roadside,  broke  into  two  fragments,  the  main 
body  of  the  cavalry  retiring,  under  Mouton,  toward 
the  Sabine,  while  the  remainder  of  the  troops  were 
conducted  by  Taylor  himself  toward  Alexandria  and  at 
last  to  Natchitoches.  As  soon  as  Kirby  Smith  became 
aware  that  his  adversary  was  advancing  to  the  Red 
River,  he  prepared  to  meet  the  menace  by  concen 
trating  on  Shreveport  the  whole  available  force  of  the 
Confederacy  in  the  Trans-Mississippi  from  Texas  to 
Missouri,  numbering,  according  to  his  own  estimate, 
18,000  effective.  He  accordingly  called  on  Magru- 
der  for  two  brigades  and  drew  in  from  the  line  of  the 
Arkansas  the  division  of  John  G.  Walker.  However, 
this  concentration  became  unnecessary  and  was  given 
up  the  instant  Smith  learned  that  Banks  had  crossed 
the  Atchafalayaand  the  Mississippi  and  had  sat  down 
before  Port  Hudson. 

While  this  movement  was  in  progress,  Walker  was 
on  the  march  toward  Natchitoches  or  Alexandria,  by 
varying  routes,  according  as  the  plans  changed  to 
suit  the  news  of  the  day.  Taylor  observed  Banks 
and  followed  his  march  to  Simmesport,  while  Mouton 

235 


236  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

hung  upon  the  rear  and  flank  of  Chickering's  column, 
guarding  the  big  wagon-train  and  the  spoils  of  the 
Teche  campaign. 

Then  Kirby  Smith,  not  caring  as  yet  to  venture 
across  the  Atchafalaya,  ordered  Taylor  to  take  Walk 
er's  division  back  into  Northern  Louisiana  and  try  to 
break  up  Grant's  campaign  by  interrupting  his  com 
munications  opposite  Vicksburg ;  but  this  attempt 
turned  out  badly,  for  Grant  had  already  given  up  his 
communications  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Mississippi 
and  restored  them  on  the  east,  and  Taylor's  forces, 
after  passing  from  Lake  Catahoula  by  Little  River 
into  the  Tensas,  ascending  that  stream  to  the  neigh 
borhood  of  Richmond  and  occupying  the  town  on  the 
3d  of  May,  were  roughly  handled  on  the  7th  in  an 
ill-judged  attempt  to  take  Young's  Point  and  Milli- 
ken's  Bend.  Then,  leaving  Walker  with  orders  to  do 
what  damage  he  could  along  the  river  bank — which 
was  not  much — and  if  possible,  as  it  was  not,  to  throw 
supplies  of  beef  and  corn  into  Vicksburg,  Taylor  went 
back  to  Alexandria  and  prepared  for  his  campaign  in 
La  Fourche,  from  which  Kirby  Smith's  superior  orders 
had  diverted  him.  Meanwhile  nearly  a  month  had 
passed  and  Walker,  after  coming  down  to  the  Red 
River,  a  week  too  late,  was  once  more  out  of  reach. 

Taylor's  plan  was  for  Major,  with  his  brigade  of  cav 
alry,  to  cross  the  Atchafalaya  at  Morgan's  Ferry,  while 
Taylor  himself,  with  the  main  body  under  Mouton, 
should  attempt  the  surprise  and  capture  of  Brashear : 
then,  if  successful,  the  whole  army  could  be  thrown 
into  La  Fourche,  while  in  case  of  failure  Major  could 
easily  return  by  the  way  he  came. 

Major  left  Washington  on  the  loth  of  June, 
marched  twenty-eight  miles  to  Morgan's  Ferry,  by  a 


HARROWING  LA  FOURCHE.  237 

road  then  high  and  dry  although  in  April  Banks  had 
found  it  under  water,  and  crossing  the  Atchafalaya  on 
the  1 4th  rode  along  the  Bayou  Fordoche  with  the  in 
tention  of  striking  the  river  at  the  Hermitage  ;  but  a 
broken  bridge  turned  him  northward  round  the  sweep 
of  False  River  toward  Waterloo.  Sage  was  at  False 
Point  with  six  companies  of  his  noth  New  York,  a 
squadron  of  the  2d  Rhode  Island  cavalry,  and  a  sec 
tion  of  Carruth's  battery.  As  soon  as  he  found  the 
enemy  approaching  in  some  force  he  moved  down 
the  levee  to  the  cover  of  the  lower  fleet  and  thus  lost 
the  chance  of  gaining  and  giving  timely  notice  of 
Major's  operation.  Major  on  his  part  rode  off  by  the 
Grosstete  through  Plaquemine,  as  already  related, 
and  so  down  the  Mississippi  to  Donaldsonville,  hav 
ing  passed  on  the  way  three  gunboats  without  being 
seen  by  any  one  on  board.  Making  a  feint  on  Fort 
Butler,  Major,  under  cover  of  the  night,  took  the  cut 
off  road  and  struck  the  Bayou  La  Fourche  six  miles  X 
below  Donaldsonville;  thence  he  rode  on  to  Thibo- 
deaux,  entering  the  town  at  daylight  on  the  2ist  of 
June.  At  Thibodeaux  Major  picked  up  all  the  Union 
soldiers  in  the  place  to  the  number  of  about  100, 
mostly  convalescents. 

Soon  after  taking  command  in  New  Orleans,  Emory 
had  begun  to  look  forward  to  what  might  happen  in 
La  Fourche,  as  well  as  to  the  possible  consequences 
to  New  Orleans  itself.  The  forces  in  the  district 
were  the  23d  Connecticut,  Colonel  Charles  E.  L. 
Holmes,  and  the  i76th  New  York,  Colonel  Charles 
C.  Nott,  both  regiments  scattered  along  the  railroad 
for  its  protection,  Company  F  and  some  odd  men 
and  recruits  of  the  ist  Indiana,  under  Captain  F.  W. 
Noblett,  occupying  the  field  works  at  Brashear,  and 


238  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

two  companies  of  the  28th  Maine  at  Fort  Butler. 
About  this  time  Holmes,  who  as  the  senior  colonel 
had  commanded  the  district  since  Weitzel  quitted  it 
to  enter  on  the  Teche  campaign,  resigned  on  account 
of  ill-health.  Nott  and  Wordin,  the  lieutenant-colonel 
of  the  23d,  were  on  the  sick-list.  Finding  the  country 
thus  feebly  occupied  and  the  service  yet  more  feebly 
performed,  as  early  as  the  7th  of  June,  Emory  had 
chosen  a  very  intelligent  and  spirited  young  officer  of 
the  47th  Massachusetts,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Albert 
Stickney,  placed  him  in  command  of  the  district, 
without  regard  to  rank,  and  sent  him  over  the  line  to 
Brashear  to  put  things  straight.  In  this  work  Stick 
ney  was  engaged,  when,  at  daylight  on  the  morn 
ing  of  the  2oth  of  June,  he  received  a  telegram  from 
Emory  conveying  the  news  that  the  Confederates 
were  advancing  on  La  Fourche  Crossing ;  so  he  left 
Major  Anthony,  of  the  2d  Rhode  Island  cavalry,  in 
command  at  Brashear  and  went  to  the  point  where 
the  danger  threatened.  When,  on  the  afternoon  of 
the  2ist  of  June,  the  Confederate  force  drew  near, 
Stickney  found  himself  in  command  of  a  medley  of 
838  men  belonging  to  eight  different  organizations— 
namely,  195  of  the  23d  Connecticut,  154  of  the  i76th 
New  York,  46  of  the  42d  Massachusetts,  37  of  the 
26th  Maine,  306  of  the  26th  Massachusetts,  50 
troopers  of  the  ist  Louisiana  cavalry,  20  artillery 
men,  chiefly  of  the  ist  Indiana,  and  one  section, 
with  30  men,  of  G  row's  25th  New  York  battery. 

The  levee  at  this  point  was  about  twelve  feet  high, 
forming  a  natural  fortification,  which  Stickney  took 
advantage  of  and  strengthened  by  throwing  up  slight 
rifle-pits  on  his  flanks.  These  had  only  been  carried 
a  few  yards,  and  were  nowhere  more  than  two  feet 


HARROWING  LA  FOURCHE.  239 

high,  when,  about  seven  o'clock  in  the  evening,  under 
cover  of  the  darkness,  Major  attacked.  The  attack 
was  led  by  Pyron's  regiment,  reported  by  Major  as 
206  strong,  and  was  received  and  thrown  off  by  about 
three  quarters  of  Stickney's  force.  For  this  result  the 
credit  is  largely  due  to  the  gallantry  and  good  judg-  - 
ment  of  Major  Morgan  Morgan,  Jr.,  of  the  i/Gth  New 
York,  and  the  steadiness  of  his  men,  inspired  by  his 
example.  Grow's  guns  being  separated  and  one  of 
them  without  support,  this  piece  was  abandoned  by 
its  gunners  and  fell  for  the  moment  into  the  hands  of 
the  Confederates  ;  the  other  piece,  placed  by  Grow 
himself  to  protect  the  flank,  poured  an  effective 
enfilade  fire  upon  Pyron's  column. 

Stickney's  loss  was  8  killed  and  41  wounded,  includ 
ing  Lieutenant  Starr,  of  the  23d  Connecticut,  whose 
hurt  proved  mortal.  The  Confederate  loss  is  not 
reported,  but  Stickney  says  he  counted  53  of  their 
dead  on  the  field,  and  afterward  found  nearly  60 
wounded  in  the  hospitals  at  Thibodeaux.  The  next 
morning,  June  22d,  their  dead  and  wounded  were 
removed  under  a  flag  of  truce.1 

While  the  flag  was  out,  Cahill  came  up  from  New 
Orleans  with  the  Qth  Connecticut,  a  further  detach 
ment  of  the  26th  Massachusetts,  and  the  remainder 
of  Grow's  battery.  This  gave  Stickney  about  1,100 
men,  with  four  guns  in  position  and  six  field-pieces. 
Cahill's  arrival  was  seen  by  Major,  who,  after  waiting 
all  day  in  a  drenching  rain,  began  to  think  his  condi 
tion  rather  critical  ;  accordingly,  at  nine  o'clock  in 
the  evening  he  set  out  to  force  his  way  to  Brashear, 
where  he  was  expecting  to  find  Green.  Riding  hard, 

1  The  history  of  the  23d  Connecticut  says  :  "  We  delivered  to  them  108  dead. 
We  captured  40  prisoners."—"  Connecticut  in  the  War,"  p.  757. 


240  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

he  arrived  at  the  east  bank  of  Bayou  Boeuf  late  the 
next  afternoon,  and,  crossing  by  night,  at  daylight  on 
the  24th  he  had  completely  surrounded  the  post  of 
Bayou  Bceuf,  and  was  just  about  to  attack,  when  he 
saw  the  white  flag  that  announced  the  surrender  of 
the  garrison  to  Mouton.  Before  this,  Captain  Julius 
Sanford,  of  the  23d  Connecticut,  set  fire  to  the 
sugar-house  filled  with  the  baggage  and  clothing  of 
the  troops  engaged  at  Port  Hudson. 

Meanwhile,  for  the  surprise  of  Brashear,  Mouton 
had  collected  thirty-seven  skiffs  and  boats  of  all  sorts 
near  the  mouth  of  the  Teche,  and  manned  them  with 
325  volunteers,  under  the  lead  of  Major  Sherod 
Hunter.  At  nightfall  on  the  22d  of  June  Hunter  set 
out,  and  by  daylight  the  next  morning  his  whole  party 
had  safely  landed  in  the  rear  of  the  defences  of  Bra- 
shear,  while  Green,  with  three  battalions  and  two 
batteries  of  his  command,  stood  on  the  western  bank 
of  Berwick  Bay,  ostentatiously  attracting  the  atten 
tion  of  the  unsuspicious  garrison,  and  three  more 
regiments  were  in  waiting  on  Gibbon's  Island,  ready 
to  make  use  of  Hunter's  boats  in  support  of  his 
movement. 

Banks  meant  to  have  broken  up  the  great  depot  of 
military  stores  at  Brashear,  and  to  have  removed  to 
Algiers  or  New  Orleans  all  regimental  baggage  and 
other  property  that  had  gone  into  store  at  Brashear 
and  the  Bceuf  before  and  after  the  Teche  campaign ; 
such  were  his  orders,  but  for  some  reason  not  easy 
to  explain  they  had  not  been  carried  out.  Besides 
the  Indianians,  who  numbered  about  30  all  told,  there 
were  at  Brashear  four  companies — D,  G,  I,  K — of 
the  23d  Connecticut,  two  companies  of  the  17610 
New  York,  about  150  strong,  and  one  company,  or 


HARROWING  LA  FOURCHE.  241 

the  equivalent  of  a  company,  of  the  420!  Massachu 
setts,  making  in  all  rather  less  than  400  effectives  ; 
there  were  also  about  300  convalescents,  left  behind 
by  nearly  thirty  regiments.  Notwithstanding  the  vast 
quantity  of  stores  committed  to  their  care,  including 
the  effects  of  their  comrades,  and  in  spite  of  all  warn 
ings,  so  slack  and  indifferent  was  the  performance  of 
duty  on  the  part  of  the  garrison  of  Brashear  that,  on 
the  morning  of  the  23d  of  June,  the  reveille  was 
sounded  for  them  by  the  guns  of  the  Valverde  battery. 
Thus  sharply  aroused,  without  a  thought  of  what 
might  happen  in  the  rear,  the  garrison  gave  its  whole 
attention  to  returning,  with  the  heavy  guns,  the  fire 
of  Green's  field-pieces  across  Berwick  Bay.  Soon  the 
gunboat  Hollyhock  backed  down  the  bay  and  out  of 
the  action,  and  thus  it  was  that  about  half-past  six 
Hunter's  men,  running  out  of  the  woods  toward  the 
railway  station,  and  making  known  their  presence 
with  their  rifles,  took  the  garrison  completely  by  sur 
prise,  and,  after  a  short  and  desultory  fight,  more  than 
700  officers  and  men  gave  up  their  swords  and  laid 
down  their  arms  to  a  little  less  than  one  half  of 
their  own  number.  Of  the  men,  nearly  all  were 
well  enough  to  march  to  Algiers  four  days  later,  after 
being  paroled.  Worse  still,  they  abandoned  a  forti 
fied  position  with  n  heavy  guns — 24-,  30-,  and  32- 
pounders.  The  Confederate  loss  was  3  killed  and  18 
wounded.  Hunter  says  the  Union  troops  lost  46 
killed  and  40  wounded,  but  about  this  there  seems  to 
be  some  mistake,  for  the  proportion  is  unusual,  and  the 
whole  loss  of  the  23d  Connecticut  in  killed  and  wounded 
was  but  7,  of  the  i76th  New  York  but  12. 

Green  crossed  Berwick  Bay  as  fast  as  he  could,  and 
pushing  on   found  the  post  at  Bayou   Ramos  aban- 

16 


242  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

doned.  The  Union  troops  stationed  there  had  retired 
to  Bayou  Boeuf,  and  so  at  daylight  on  the  24th,  without 
feeling  or  firing  a  single  shot,  the  united  guards  of  the 
two  stations,  numbering  435  officers  and  men,  with 
four  guns,  commanded  by  Lieutenant-Colonel  Du- 
ganne,  of  the  i76th  New  York,  promptly  surrendered 
to  the  first  bold  summons  of  a  handful  of  Green's 
adventurous  scouts  riding  five  miles  ahead  of  their 
column.  Taylor  now  turned  over  the  immediate 
command  of  the  force  to  Mouton  and  hastened  back 
to  Alexandria  to  bring  down  Walker,  in  order  to 
secure  and  extend  his  conquests.  Mouton  marched 
at  once  on  Donaldsonville. 

When  the  Union  forces  at  La  Fourche  Crossing 
found  the  Confederates  returning  in  such  strength, 
they  made  haste  to  fall  back  on  New  Orleans,  and 
were  followed  as  far  as  Boutte  Station  by  Waller's 
and  Pyron's  battalions. 

On  the  2 /th  of  June,  Green,  with  his  own  brigade, 
Major's  brigade,  and  Semmes's  battery  appeared  be 
fore  Donaldsonville,  and  demanded  the  surrender  of 
the  garrison  of  Fort  Butler.  This  was  a  square 
redoubt,  placed  in  the  northern  angle  between  the 
bayou  and  the  Mississippi,  designed  to  command  and 
protect  the  river  gateway  to  La  Fourche,  mounting 
four  guns,  and  originally  intended  for  a  garrison  of 
perhaps  600  men.  The  parapet  was  high  and  thick, 
like  the  levee,  and  was  surrounded  by  a  deep  ditch, 
the  flanks  on  the  bayou  and  the  river  being  further 
protected  by  stout  stockades  extending  from  the 
levees  to  the  water,  at  ordinary  stages.  The  work 
was  now  held  by  a  mixed  force  of  180  men,  com 
prising  two  small  companies  of  the  28th  Maine — 
F,  Captain  Edward  B.  Neal,  and  G,  Captain  Augus- 


HARROWING  LA  FOURCHE.  243 

tine  Thompson, — besides  a  number  of  convalescents 
of  various  regiments.  Major  Joseph  D.  Bullen,  of 
the  28th,  was  in  command,  and  with  him  at  the  time 
was  Major  Henry  M.  Porter,  of  the  7th  Vermont, 
provost-marshal  of  the  parish  of  Iberville,  whose 
quarters  in  the  town  on  the  other  side  of  the  bayou 
were  no  longer  tenable. 

Farragut,  who  had  gone  down  to  New  Orleans  and 
hoisted  his  flag  on  the  Pensacola,  leaving  Palmer  and 
Alden  in  command  of  the  upper  and  lower  fleets  be 
fore  Port  Hudson,  had  disposed  his  gunboats  so  as  to 
patrol  the  river  in  sections.  The  Princess  Royal, 
Lieutenant-Commander  M.  B.  Woolsey,  was  near 
Donaldsonville ;  the  Winona,  Lieutenant-Commander 
A.  W.  Weaver,  near  Plaquemine ;  and  the  Kineo, 
Lieutenant-Commander  John  Watters,  between  Bon 
net  Carre  and  the  Red  Church.  As  soon  as  the  Con 
federates  appeared  before  Donaldsonville,  Woolsey 
was  notified,  and  couriers  were  sent  up  and  down  the 
river  to  summon  the  Winona  and  the  Kineo. 

Green  brought  to  the  attack  six  regiments  and  one 
battery,  between  1,300  and  1,500  strong,1  including 
three  regiments  of  his  own  brigade,  the  4th,  5th,  and 
7th  Texas,  and  three  regiments  of  Major's  brigade — 
Lane's,  Stone's,  and  Phillips's.  The  river,  and  there 
fore  the  bayou,  were  now  low,  exposing  wide  margins 
of  batture,  and  Green's  plan  was,  while  surrounding 
and  threatening  the  fort  on  its  land  faces,  to  gain  an 
entrance  on  the  water  front  by  crossing  the  batture 
and  passing  around  the  ends  of  the  stockades. 

JWhen  Green  says  800,  he  of  course  refers  to  the  four  regiments  actually 
engaged  in  the  assault ;  for,  after  losing,  as  he  says,  261  of  these  800,  he  makes 
the  four  regiments  of  Major's  brigade,  with  two  sections  of  Faries's  battery, 
number  800  ;  while  his  own  force,  with  one  section  of  Gonzales's  battery,  he 
puts  at  750.  800  +750  +  261  =  1,811. 


244  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

At  ten  minutes  past  midnight  the  red  light  of  a 
Coston  signal  from  the  fort  announced  to  the  Navy 
that  the  enemy  were  coming.  At  twenty  minutes  past 
one  the  fight  was  opened  by  the  Confederates  with 
musketry.  Instantly  the  fort  replied  with  the  fire  of 
its  guns,  and  of  every  musket  that  could  be  brought 
to  the  parapet.  Five  minutes  later  the  Princess 
Royal,  which,  since  nightfall,  had  been  under  way  and 
cleared  for  action,  began  shelling  the  woods  on  the 
right  of  the  fort,  firing  a  few  Q-inch  and  3<>pounder 
shells  over  the  works  and  down  the  bayou,  followed 
presently  by  3<>pounder  and  2O-pounder  shrapnel  and 
9-inch  grape,  fired  at  point-blank  range  in  the  direction 
of  the  Confederate  yells.  The  assault  was  made  in 
the  most  determined  manner.  Shannon,  with  the  5th 
Texas,  passed  some  of  his  men  around  the  end  of  the 
river  stockade,  others  climbed  and  helped  one  another 
over,  some  tried  to  cut  it  down  with  axes,  many  fired 

^  through  the  loopholes  ;  Phillips  made  a  circuit  of  the 
fort  and  tried  the  bayou  stockade,  while  Herbert's 
7th  Texas  attempted  to  cross  the  ditch  on  the  land 
side.  The  fight  at  the  stockade  was  desperate  in 
the  extreme ;  those  who  succeeded  in  surmounting  or 
turning  this  barrier  found  an  impassable  obstacle  in 
the  ditch,  whose  existence,  strange  to  say,  they  had 

X  not  even  suspected.  Here  the  combatants  fought 
hand  to  hand  ;  even  the  sick,  who  had  barely  strength 
to  walk  from  the  hospital  to  the  rampart,  took  part  in 
the  defence.  The  Texans  assailed  the  defenders  with 
brickbats  ;  these  the  Maine  men  threw  back  upon  the 
heads  of  the  Texans  ;  on  both  sides  numbers  were 
thus  injured.  Lane,  who  was  to  have  supported 
Phillips,  somehow  went  adrift,  and  Hardeman,  who 
was  to  have  attacked  the  stockade  on  the  bayou  side, 


HARROWING  LA  FOURCHE.  245 

was  delayed  by  his  guide,  but  toward  daylight  he 
came  up  to  join  in  the  last  attack.  By  way  of  a 
diversion,  Stone  had  crossed  the  bayou  to  the  east 
bank  on  a  bridge  of  sugar  coolers,  and  his  part  in  the 
fight  was  confined  to  yells. 

At  a  quarter  before  four  the  yelling,  which  had 
gone  on  continuously  for  more  than  two  hours,  sud 
denly  died  away,  the  fire  slackened,  and  three  rousing 
cheers  went  up  from  the  fort.  A  few  minutes  later  the 
Winona  came  down  and  opened  fire,  and  at  half-past 
four  the  Kineo  hove  in  sight.  The  fight  was  ended. 
"  The  smoke  clearing  away,"  says  Woolsey,  "  discov 
ered  the  American  flag  flying  over  the  fort.  Gave 
three  cheers  and  came  to  anchor."  Yet  the  same 
sun  rose  upon  a  ghastly  sight — upon  green  slopes 
gray  with  the  dead,  the  dying,  and  the  maimed,  and 
the  black  ditch  red  with  their  blood. 

Green  puts  his  loss  at  40  killed,  114  wounded,  107 
missing,  in  all  261.  However,  during  the  28th,  the 
Princess  Royal  and  the  Kineo  received  on  board  from 
the  provost-marshal  124  prisoners,  by  actual  count, 
including  i  lientenant-colonel,  2  majors,  3  captains, 
and  5  lieutenants  ;  and  Lieutenant-Commander  Wool 
sey  says  the  garrison  buried  69  Confederates  and 
were  "  still  at  it."  Among  the  Confederates  killed 
was  Shannon,  and  among  the  missing  Phillips.  Of 
the  garrison,  i  officer,  Lieutenant  Isaac  Murch,  of 
the  28th  Maine,  and  7  men  were  killed,  2  officers  and 
ii  men  wounded — in  all  21.  The  Princess  Royal 
had  i  man  killed,  2  wounded.  The  vessel  was  struck 
in  twenty  places  by  grape-shot. 

Green  has  been  sharply  criticised  for  the  apparent 
recklessness  with  which  he  delivered  his  assault,  even 
after  having  announced  to  Mouton  his  intention  of 


246  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

waiting  ;  yet  it  is  clear  that  he  was  sent  there  to 
attack ;  if  he  was  to  attack  at  all,  he  had  nothing 
to  gain  by  waiting ;  an  assault  by  daylight  would  have 
been  wholesale  suicide  ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
garrison  would  unquestionably  be  reinforced  by  troops 
and  gunboats  before  another  night.  Having  paid 
this  tribute  to  his  judgment,  and  to  his  daring  and 
the  intrepidity  of  his  men  the  homage  that  every 
soldier  feels  to  be  his  due,  one  may  be  allowed  to 
quote  without  comment  this  passage  from  Green's 
report  of  the  affair,  in  naked  frankness  hardly  sur 
passed  even  among  the  writings  of  Signor  Benvenuto 
Cellini  : 

"  At  daylight  I  sent  in  a  flag  of  truce,  asking  permission  to  pick 
up  our  wounded  and  bury  our  dead,  which  was  refused,  as  I  ex 
pected.  My  object  in  sending  the  flag  so  early  was  to  get  away 
a  great  number  of  our  men,  who  had  found  a  little  shelter  near 
the  enemy's  works,  and  who  would  have  been  inevitably  taken 
prisoners.  I  must  have  saved  one  hundred  men  by  instructing 
my  flag-of-truce  officer,  as  he  approached  the  fort,  to  order  our 
troops  to  steal  away." 

Bullen's  message  to  Emory  has  the  true  ring : 
"  The  enemy  have  attacked  us,  and  we  have  repulsed 
them.  I  want  more  men  ;  I  must  have  more  men." 
Emory  responded  with  the  remaining  two  companies 
of  the  28th  Maine,  that  had  been  left  near  New 
Orleans  when  the  regiment  moved  to  Port  Hudson, 
and  Banks  relieved  the  ist  Louisiana  on  the  lines  and 
sent  it  at  once  to  Donaldsonville,  with  two  sections  of 
Closson's  battery  under  Taylor,  and  Stone  to  com 
mand.  This  put  the  place  out  of  peril. 

Even  this  bright  spot  on  the  dull,  dark  background 
was  not  to  be  permitted  to  go  untarnished,  for,  on  the 
5th  of  July,  Bullen,  the  hero  of  this  heroic  defence, 


HARROWING  LA  FOURCHE.  247 

whose  name  deserves  to  live  in  the  memory  of  all 
that  love  a  sturdy  man,  a  stout  heart,  a  steady  mind, 
or  a  brave  deed,  was  murdered  by  a  tipsy  mutineer  of 
the  relieving  force.  On  Friday,  the  I4th  of  August, 
1863,  this  wretched  man,  Francis  Scott,  private  of 
Company  F,  ist  Louisiana,  suffered  the  military 
penalty  of  his  crime. 

Taylor  now  gave  up  the  attempt  to  capture  the 
position  at  Donaldsonville,  and  devoted  his  attention 
to  a  blockade  of  the  river  by  establishing  his  batteries 
at  various  points  behind  the  natural  fortification 
formed  by  the  levee.  Seven  guns,  under  Faries, 
were  placed  on  Gaudet's  plantation,  opposite  White 
hall  Point,  while  the  guns  of  Semmes,  Nichols,  and 
Cornay  were  planted  opposite  College  Point  and  at 
Fifty-five  Mile  Point,  commanding  Grand  View  reach. 
On  the  3d  of  July  Semmes  opened  fire  on  the  Union 
transports,  as  they  were  approaching  College  Point 
on  their  way  up  the  river.  The  steamer  Iberville 
was  disabled,  and  from  this  time  until  after  the 
surrender  no  transport  passed  up,  except  under  con 
voy,  and  it  was  only  with  great  difficulty  that  even 
the  fastest  boats  made  their  way  down  with  the  help 
of  the  current. 

When  this  state  of  things  was  reported  to  Farragut, 
who  had  gone  back  to  Port  Hudson,  he  sent  to  New 
Orleans  for  his  Chief  of  Staff,  Captain  Jenkins,  to  come 
up,  in  order  that  he  himself  might  once  more  go  down 
and  give  his  personal  attention  to  the  affair.  On  the 
7th  of  July  the  Tennessee  started  from  New  Orleans 
with  Jenkins  aboard  ;  she  had  successfully  run  the 
gauntlet  of  the  batteries,  when,  between  eight  and 
nine  o'clock  in  the  evening,  as  Faries  was  firing  his 
last  rounds,  a  solid  shot  struck  and  instantly  killed 


248  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

Commander  Abner  Read.  Captain  Jenkins  was,  at 
the  same  time,  wounded  by  a  flying  fragment  of  a 
broken  cutlass.  Of  the  crew  two  were  killed  and  four 
wounded. 

On  the  8th  the  Saint  Marys,  a  fine  seagoing 
steamer  and  one  of  the  fastest  boats  in  the  depart 
ment,  was  carrying  Lieutenant  Emerson,  Acting-As 
sistant  Adjutant-General,  with  important  despatches 
from  headquarters  to  Emory  and  to  the  Chief  Quarter 
master,  when,  about  three  o'clock  in  the  morning,  she 
drew  the  fire  of  all  the  Confederate  guns.  The  Prin 
cess  Royal  and  the  Kineo  convoyed  her  past  the  upper 
battery,  but  from  this  point  she  had  to  trust  to  her 
speed  and  her  low  freeboard.  In  rounding  Fifty-five 
Mile  Point  she  was  struck  five  times,  one  conical 
shell  and  one  shrapnel  penetrating  her  side  above  the 
water-line  and  bursting  inboard. 

At  half-past  six  on  the  morning  of  the  Qth  of  July, 
Farragut,  who  had  left  Port  Hudson  on  the  Monon- 
gahela  on  the  evening  of  the  7th,  started  from 
Donaldsonville  with  the  Essex,  Kineo,  and  Tennessee 
in  company,  ran  the  gauntlet  of  the  batteries,  swept 
and  silenced  them  with  his  broadsides,  and  endured 
for  nearly  two  hours  a  brisk  musketry  fire  from  the 
enemy  without  serious  loss  suffered  or  inflicted.  At 
half-past  one  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  loth  of 
July,  the  gunboat  New  London,  bearing  Captain 
Walker,  Assistant  Adjutant-General,  with  a  despatch 
announcing  the  surrender  of  Port  Hudson,  came 
under  the  fire  of  Faries's  battery,  opposite  Whitehall. 
She  was  very  soon  disabled  by  a  shot  through  her 
boilers,  and  was  run  ashore  near  the  left  bank,  where 
the  Tennessee  and  the  Essex  came  to  her  assistance  from 
below.  Landing  on  the  east  bank,  Captain  Walker 


HARROWING  LA  FOURCHE.  249 

made  his  way  afoot  down  the  river  along  the  levee 
until  he  came  in  sight  of  the  Monongahela,  when,  at 
six  o'clock  in  the  morning,  his  signals  being  perceived, 
he  was  taken  aboard  in  one  of  the  ship's  boats  and 
communicated  to  the  admiral  the  good  news  that  the 
campaign  was  at  an  end.  To  dispose  of  Taylor  could 
be  but  a  matter  of  a  few  days  ;  then  once  more,  in 
the  words  of  Lincoln,  would  the  great  river  flow 
"unvexed  to  the  sea." 

Taylor's  plans  were  well  laid,  and  had  been  brill 
iantly  executed.  In  no  other  way,  with  the  force  at 
his  disposal,  could  he  have  performed  a  greater  service 
for  his  cause.  Save  the  severe  yet  not  material  check 
at  Donaldsonville,  he  had  had  everything  his  own 
way  :  he  had  overrun  La  Fourche ;  his  guns  com 
manded  the  river  ;  his  outposts  were  within  twenty 
miles  of  the  city ;  he  even  talked  of  capturing  New 
Orleans,  but  this,  in  the  teeth  of  an  alert  and  power 
ful  fleet,  was  at  best  but  a  midsummer  fancy. 

In  New  Orleans,  indeed,  great  was  the  excitement 
when  it  became  known  that  the  Confederate  forces 
were  so  near.  In  Taylor's  army  were  the  friends,  the 
brothers,  the  lovers,  the  husbands,  even  the  fathers  of 
the  inhabitants.  In  the  town  were  many  thousands 
of  registered  enemies,  and  of  paroled  Confederate 
prisoners  of  all  ranks.  At  one  time  there  were  no 
Union  troops  in  the  city,  save  a  detachment  of  the 
42d  Massachusetts,  barely  two  hundred  and  fifty 
strong.  But  the  illness  that  had  deprived  Emory's 
division  of  its  leader  in  the  field  had  given  to  New 
Orleans  a  commander  of  a  courage  and  firmness  that 
now,  as  always,  rose  with  the  approach  of  danger, 
with  whom  difficulties  diminished  as  they  drew  near, 
and  whose  character  had  earned  the  respect  of  the 


250  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

townspeople.  These,  though  their  hearts  beat  high 
and  their  pulses  were  tremulous  with  emotion,  con 
ducted  themselves  with  a  propriety  and  an  outward 
calmness  that  reflected  the  highest  credit  upon  their 
virtue  and  their  good  sense.  Yet,  when  all  that  was 
possible  had  been  done,  things  were  at  such  a  pass 
that,  on  the  4th  of  July,  Emory  thought  it  imperative 
to  speak  out.  "  I  respectfully  suggest,"  he  wrote  to 
Banks,  "  that  unless  Port  Hudson  be  already  taken, 
you  can  only  save  this  city  by  sending  me  reinforce 
ments  immediately  and  at  any  cost.  It  is  a  choice 
between  Port  Hudson  and  New  Orleans." 

Banks  made  the  choice  with  serenity  and  without 
a  moment's  hesitation  determined  to  run  the  remote 
risk  of  losing  New  Orleans  for  the  moment,  with  the 
destruction  of  Taylor's  army  in  reserve  as  a  consola 
tion,  rather  than  to  insure  himself  against  this  peril 
at  the  price  of  instant  disaster  at  Port  Hudson,  even 
on  the  very  eve  of  victory. 

"  Operations  here,"  was  the  reply  sent  from  head 
quarters  on  the  5th  to  Emory's  urgent  appeal,  "  can 
last  but  two  or  three  days  longer  at  the  outside,  and 
then  the  whole  command  will  be  available  to  drive 
back  the  enemy  who  is  now  annoying  our  communi 
cations  and  threatening  New  Orleans."  So  the  event 
proved  and  such  was  now  the  task  to  be  performed. 

Augur,  who  had  been  ill  for  some  time,  yet  unwill 
ing  to  relinquish  his  command,  now  found  himself 
unfitted  for  the  summer  campaign  that  seemed  in 
prospect.  He  accordingly  turned  over  his  divi 
sion  to  Weitzel,  took  leave  of  absence  on  surgeon's 
certificate,  and  went  North  to  recruit  his  health. 
Shortly  afterwards  he  was  assigned  to  the  command 
of  the  Department  of  Washington  and  did  not  rejoin 
the  Nineteenth  Corps. 


HARROWING  LA  FOURCHE.  251 

Weitzel,  as  has  been  said,  took  transport  on  the 
gth  of  July  immediately  after  the  formal  capitulation. 
Getting  under  way  toward  evening,  he  landed  at 
Donaldsonville  early  the  next  morning.  His  presence 
there  so  threatened  the  flank  and  front  of  Taylor's 
forces,  as  to  induce  an  immediate  withdrawal  of  the 
guns  from  the  river  and  the  calling  in  of  all  detach 
ments.  Morgan,  with  G  rover's  First  brigade  and 
Nims's  battery,  followed  Weitzel  about  midnight  on 
the  loth,  and  Grover  himself,  with  his  other  two 
brigades,  on  the  i  ith.  During  the  night  of  that  day, 
Grover  therefore  found  himself  before  Donaldson 
ville,  holding  both  banks  of  Bayou  La  Fourche  with 
two  divisions.  He  was  confronted  by  Green  with  his 
own  brigade  and  Major's,  together  with  the  batteries 
that  had  lately  been  annoying  the  transports  and 
drawing  the  attention  of  the  gunboats  on  the  river. 
When,  on  the  xoth,  Green  saw  the  transports  coming 
down  the  Mississippi  laden  with  troops,  it  did  not  at 
once  occur  to  him  that  Port  Hudson  was  lost ;  he 
simply  thought  these  troops  were  coming  to  attack 
him.  Concentrating  his  whole  force,  he  posted  Major 
with  four  regiments  and  four  guns  on  the  left  or  east 
bank  of  the  bayou,  and  on  the  right  or  west  bank 
three  regiments  and  two  guns  of  his  own  brigade. 
Green's  pickets  were  within  two  miles  of  Donaldson 
ville.  As  Grover  developed  and  took  more  ground 
in  his  front,  Green  drew  back  toward  Paincourtville. 

On  the  morning  of  the  i3th  of  July,  without  any 
intention  of  bringing  on  a  battle  or  of  hastening  the 
enemy's  movements,  but  merely  to  gain  a  little  more 
elbow-room  and  to  find  new  fields  for  forage  for  the 
animals,  Grover  moved  out  an  advance  guard  on  either 
side  of  the  bayou.  "  The  enemy  is  evidently  making 
preparation,"  he  said  in  his  despatch  of  the  I2th 


252  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

before  ordering  this  movement,  "  to  escape  if  pur 
sued  by  a  strong  force  or  to  resist  a  small  one.  Our 
gunboats  can  hardly  be  expected  at  Brashear  City  for 
some  days,  and  it  is  evidently  injudicious  to  press 
them  until  their  retreat  is  cut  off."  Dudley,  with  two 
sections  of  Carruth's  battery  under  Phelps  and  with 
Barrett's  troop,  marched  on  the  right  bank  of  the 
bayou,  supported  by  Charles  J.  Paine's  brigade  with 
Haley's  battery.  Morgan,  under  the  orders  of  Birge, 
temporarily  commanding  Grover's  division,  moved  in 
line  with  Dudley  on  the  opposite  bank.  They  went 
forward  slowly  until,  about  six  miles  out,  they  found 
themselves  upon  the  estate  of  the  planter  whose  name 
is  variously  spelled  Cox,  Koch,  and  Kock.  Here,  as 
Dudley  and  Morgan  showed  no  disposition  to  attack, 
Green  took  the  initiative,  and,  favored  by  a  narrow 
field,  a  rank  growth  of  corn,  dense  thickets  of  willows, 
the  deep  ditches  common  to  all  sugar  plantations  in 
these  lowlands,  and  his  own  superior  knowledge  of 
the  country,  he  fell  suddenly  with  his  whole  force 
upon  the  heads  of  Dudley's  and  Morgan's  columns, 
and  drove  them  in  almost  before  they  were  aware  of 
the  presence  in  their  front  of  anything  more  than  the 
pickets,  whom  they  had  been  seeing  for  two  days  and 
who  had  been  falling  back  before  them.  Morgan 
handled  his  brigade  badly,  and  soon  got  it,  or  suffered 
it  to  fall,  into  a  tangle  whence  it  could  only  extricate 
itself  by  retiring.  This  fairly  exposed  the  flank  of 
Dudley,  who  was  making  a  good  fight,  but  had 
already  enough  to  do  to  take  care  of  his  front  against 
the  fierce  onset  of  Green's  Texans.  The  result  of 
this  bad  management  was  that  the  whole  command 
was  in  effect  clubbed  and  on  both  banks  driven  back 
about  a  mile,  until  Paine  came  to  its  support ;  then 


HARROWING  LA  FOURCHE.  253 

Grover  rode  out,  and,  seeing  what  had  happened, 
drew  in  his  whole  force. 

Grover' s  losses  in  this  affair,  called  the  battle  of 
Cox's  Plantation,  were  2  officers  and  54  men  killed,  7 
officers  and  210  men  wounded,  3  officers  and  183  men 
captured  or  missing ;  in  all  465.  To  add  to  the 
reproach  of  this  rough  treatment  at  the  hands  of  an 
inferior  force,  two  guns  were  lost,  one  of  the  ist 
Maine  battery  and  one  of  the  6th  Massachusetts,  but 
without  the  least  fault  on  the  part  of  the  artillerists. 

After  the  close  of  the  campaign  Colonel  Morgan 
was  arraigned  before  a  general  court-martial  upon 
charges  of  misbehavior  before  the  enemy  and  drunk 
enness  on  duty,  and,  being  found  guilty  upon  both 
charges,  was  sentenced  to  be  cashiered  and  utterly 
disqualified  from  holding  any  office  or  employment 
under  the  government  of  the  United  States  ;  but 
Banks  disapproved  the  proceedings,  findings,  and 
sentence  on  the  ground  that  the  evidence  appeared 
to  him  too  conflicting  and  unsatisfactory.  "  The  ex 
ecution  of  the  sentence,"  his  orders  continue,  "  is 
suspended  until  the  pleasure  of  the  President  can  be 
known."  When  the  record  with  this  decision  reached 
the  Judge  Advocate-General  of  the  Army  at  Wash 
ington,  he  sent  it  back  to  Banks  with  instructions 
that,  as  no  sentence  remained  for  the  action  of  the 
President,  the  proceedings  were  at  an  end  and  Colonel 
Morgan  must  be  released  from  arrest.  This  was 
accordingly  done  on  the  26th  of  October,  1863. 

Green  puts  his  loss  at  3  killed  and  30  wounded, 
including  6  mortally  wounded.  The  Union  loss,  he 
says,  was  "  little  less  than  1,000  ;  there  were  over 
500  of  the  enemy  killed  and  wounded,  of  whom  200 
were  left  out  on  the  field,  and  about  250  prisoners." 


254  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

When,  on  the  evening  of  the  i4th  of  July,  at  Port 
Hudson,  Banks  received  this  news,  he  went  at  once 
to  Donaldsonville  to  confer  with  Grover  and  Weitzel 
on  the  situation  and  the  plan  of  campaign.  It  was 
agreed  on  all  hands  that  it  was  inexpedient  to  press 
Taylor  hard  or  to  hasten  his  movements  in  any  way 
until  time  should  have  been  allowed  for  the  light- 
draught  gunboats  to  re-enter  Berwick  Bay  and  thus 
gain  control  of  Taylor's  line  of  retreat.  In  thus 
refraining  from  any  attempt  to  avenge  promptly  what 
must  be  regarded  as  a  military  affront,  the  depleted 
ranks  and  the  wearied  condition  of  the  troops  were 
perhaps  taken  into  account,  and,  moreover,  it  must 
have  been  considered  to  the  last  degree  inadvisable 
to  entangle  the  command  in  the  dense  swamps  that 
would  have  to  be  crossed,  after  pushing  Taylor 
prematurely  back  from  the  fertile  and  comparatively 
high  lands  that  border  the  Bayou  La  Fourche.  Then 
Banks  continued  on  to  New  Orleans,  where  he 
arrived  on  the  i8th,  and  renewed  his  pressure  on  the 
admiral  for  the  gunboats  ;  but,  unfortunately,  the  gun 
boats  were  not  to  be  had.  Of  those  that  had  accom 
panied  the  army  in  the  campaign  of  the  Teche,  only 
one,  the  feeble  Hollyhock,  had  remained  in  Berwick 
Bay  after  the  army  descended  the  Red  River,  crossed 
the  Atchafalaya,  and  moved  on  Port  Hudson.  The 
others,  with  the  transports,  had  followed  the  move 
ment  of  the  troops  and  had  been  caught  above  the 
head  of  the  Atchafalaya  when  the  waters  fell.  Thus 
they  had  long  been  without  repairs,  and  not  one  of 
them  was  now  in  condition  for  immediate  service. 
The  water  on  the  bar  at  the  mouth  of  the  Atchafalaya 
was  now  nearly  at  its  lowest  point,  so  that  even  of 
the  light-draught  gunboats  only  the  lightest  could 


HARROWING  LA  FOURCHE.  255 

cross.  Accordingly  it  was  not  until  the  22d  of  July 
that  the  Estrella  and  Clifton  made  their  appearance 
in  Berwick  Bay  and  put  an  end  to  Taylor's  operations. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  2ist  of  July,  knowing  that 
the  gunboats  were  coming,  Taylor  set  the  finishing 
touch  to  his  incursion  by  burning  the  rolling-stock  of 
the  railway  and  running  the  engines  into  the  bay. 
He  had  already  destroyed  the  bridges  as  far  back  as 
Tigerville,  thus  rendering  the  road  quite  useless  to 
the  Union  forces  for  the  next  five  weeks. 

On  the  morning  of  the  25th  the  advance  of  Weit- 
zel's  brigade,  under  Lieutenant-Colonel  Peck,  consist 
ing  of  his  own  i2th  Connecticut  and  the  I3th  Con 
necticut,  commanded  by  Captain  Comstock,  arrived 
at  Brashear  by  steamer  from  Donaldsonville,  and, 
landing,  once  more  took  possession  of  the  place  ;  but 
in  the  meantime  Taylor  had  safely  withdrawn  to  the 
west  bank,  and  gone  into  camp  on  the  Teche  with  all 
his  army  intact  and  all  his  materials  and  supplies  and 
most  of  his  captures  safe. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

IN  SUMMER  QUARTERS. 

BEFORE  Banks  parted  with  Grover  at  Donaldson- 
ville,  he  left  orders  for  the  troops  to  rest  and  go  into 
"summer  quarters"  as  soon  as  the  pending  operation 
should  be  decided.  Accordingly,  in  the  last  days  of 
July,  Weitzel  broke  away  from  the  discomforts  of 
muddy,  dusty,  shadeless  Donaldsonville,  and  march 
ing  down  the  bayou,  once  more  took  up  his  quarters 
near  Napoleonville  and  Thibodeaux,  and  encamped 
his  men  at  ease  among  the  groves  and  orchards  of 
the  garden  of  La  Fourche. 

On  the  1 6th  of  July  the  steamboat  Imperial,  from 
St.  Louis  on  the  8th,  rounded  to  at  the  levee  at  New 
Orleans  in  token  that  the  great  river  was  once  more 
free.  The  next  day  she  set  out  on  her  return  trip. 

On  the  5th  of  August  a  despatch  from  Halleck, 
dated  the  23d  of  July,  was  received  and  published  in 
orders : 

"  I  congratulate  you  and  your  army  on  the  crowning  success 
of  the  campaign.  It  was  reserved  for  your  army  to  strike  the 
last  blow  to  open  the  Mississippi  River.  The  country,  and 
especially  the  great  West,  will  ever  remember  with  gratitude  their 
services." 

Afterwards,  on  the  28th  of  January,  1864,  Congress 
passed  a  joint  resolution  of  thanks 

256 


IN  SUMMER  QUARTERS.  257 

"to  Major-General  Nathaniel  P.  Banks  and  the  officers  and 
soldiers  under  his  command  for  the  skill,  courage,  and  endurance 
which  compelled  the  surrender  of  Port  Hudson,  and  thus  re 
moved  the  last  obstruction  to  the  free  navigation  of  the  Missis 
sippi  River." 

Admiral  Porter  now  came  down  the  river  to  New 
Orleans  in  his  flagship  Black  Hawk,  and  arranged  to 
relieve  Admiral  Farragut  from  the  trying  duty  of 
patrolling  and  protecting  the  river,  so  long  borne  by 
the  vessels  of  his  fleet.  Farragut  then  took  leave  of 
absence  and  went  North,  leaving  the  West  Gulf 
Squadron  to  Commodore  Bell. 

When  Port  Hudson  surrendered,  two  of  the  nine- 
months'  regiments  had  already  served  beyond  their 
time.  The  4th  Massachusetts  claimed  its  discharge 
on  the  26th  of  June,  the  5Oth  four  days  later,  insisting 
that  their  time  ran  from  the  muster-in  of  the  last 
company;  but,  being  without  information  from  Wash 
ington  on  this  point,  Banks  counted  the  time  from 
the  muster-in  of  the  field  and  staff,  and  therefore 
wished  to  hold  these  regiments  respectively  eighty- 
one  and  forty-two  days  longer,  or  at  all  events  until 
the  receipt  of  instructions  or  the  end  of  the  siege. 
To  this  view  officers  and  men  alike  objected,  many 
of  them  so  strongly  that  whole  companies  refused 
duty.  They  were  within  their  lawful  rights,  yet,  better 
counsels  quickly  prevailing,  all  consented  to  stay,  and 
did  good  service  to  the  last.  Of  seven  other  regi 
ments  the  term  of  enlistment  was  on  the  point  of 
expiring.  They  were  the  2ist,  22d,  24th,  and  26th 
Maine,  the  52d  Massachusetts,  the  26th  Connecticut, 
and  the  i6th  New  Hampshire.  These  nine  regi 
ments  were  now  detached  from  the  divisions  to  which 

they  belonged  and  placed  under  the  orders  of  An- 
17 


258  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

drews  to  form  part  of  the  garrison  of  Port  Hudson 
until  the  transports  should  be  ready  to  take  them 
home  by  sea  or  river. 

As  soon  as  the  river  was  opened,  Grant  responded 
freely  to  all  the  urgent  demands  made  upon  him  for 
steamboats,  forage,  beef,  telegraph  operators,  and  so 
on.  He  sent  Ransom  to  occupy  Natchez,  and  about 
the  25th  of  July  Herron  arrived  at  Port  Hudson  with 
his  division  of  two  brigades,  3,605  effectives,  with  18 
guns.  Herron's  command,  the  victor  of  Pea  Ridge 
and  Prairie  Grove,  formerly  known  as  the  Army  of 
the  Frontier,  had  been  called  to  the  aid  of  Grant  at 
Vicksburg.  It  came  to  the  Gulf  as  Herron's  division, 
but  was  presently,  by  Grant's  orders,  merged  in  the 
1 3th  Corps  as  its  Second  Division. 

At  the  close  of  July,  in  response  to  Banks's  urgent 
appeals  for  more  troops  to  replace  the  nine-months' 
men,  Halleck  ordered  Grant  to  send  down  a  corps  of 
10,000  or  12,000  men.  Accordingly,  between  the 
loth  and  26th  of  August,  Grant  sent  the  reorganized 
Thirteenth  Corps  to  Carrollton.  Ord,  the  proper 
commander  of  the  Thirteenth  Corps,  took  sick  leave, 
and  the  corps  came  to  Louisiana  under  the  command 
of  Washburn,  with  Benton,  Herron,  Lee,  and  Lawler 
commanding  the  divisions,  and  Colonel  Mudd  the 
brigade  of  cavalry.  All  told,  the  effective  strength 
of  the  corps  was  778  officers  and  13,934  men  ;  total, 

14,712- 

Chiefly  in  July  and  August  the  twenty-one  nine- 
months'  regiments  and  in  November  the  nine-months' 
men  of  the  1 76th  New  York  went  home  to  be  mus 
tered  out.  This  left  of  the  Nineteenth  Corps  thirty- 
seven  regiments,  having  an  effective  strength,  daily 
diminishing,  of  less  than  350  men  each  ;  in  all,  less 


IN  SUMMER  QUARTERS.  259 

than  13,000.  From  these  it  was  indispensable  to 
take  one  full  and  strong  regiment  for  Key  West  and 
the  Tortugas,  another  for  Pensacola,  and  a  third  for 
Forts  Jackson  and  Saint  Philip.  This  disposed  of 
2,000;  2,500  more  was  the  least  force  that  could  be 
expected  to  do  the  police  and  guard  duty  of  a  hostile 
town  so  great  and  populous  as  New  Orleans,  contain 
ing  the  main  depots  of  the  army ;  thus  the  movable 
force  of  infantry  was  cut  down  to  8,500,  or,  as  Banks 
states  it,  10,000,  and  for  any  operations  that  should 
uncover  New  Orleans,  would  be  but  half  that  number. 
In  the  reorganization  of  the  Nineteenth  Corps, 
thus  rendered  necessary,  the  Second  division  was 
broken  up  and  ceased  to  exist,  its  First  and  Third 
brigades  being  transferred  to  the  Third  division,  the 
temporary  command  of  which  was  given  to  Dwight, 
but  only  for  a  short  time.  The  First  and  Third 
brigades  of  the  First  division  were  thrown  into  one ; 
Weitzel's  brigade  at  first  resumed  its  original  name 
of  the  Reserve  brigade,  and  a  new  Second  brigade 
was  provided  by  taking  Gooding's  from  the  Third 
division,  so  that  when  a  fortnight  later  Weitzel's 
brigade  was  restored  to  the  First  division,  it  became 
the  Third  brigade.  The  Fourth  division,  like  the 
Third,  was  reduced  to  two  brigades.  Major-General 
William  B.  Franklin,  who  had  just  come  from  the 
North  under  orders  from  Washington,  was  assigned  to 
the  command  of  the  First  division,  while  Emory  was  to 
retain  the  Third  and  Grover  the  Fourth  ;  but  when 
the  Thirteenth  Corps  began  to  arrive,  Banks  found 
himself  in  the  anomalous  position  of  commanding  a 
military  department  within  whose  limits  two  army 
corps  were  to  serve,  one,  numerically  the  smaller, 
under  his  own  immediate  orders,  the  other  under  its 


260  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

proper  commander.  The  approaching  completion  of 
the  organization  of  the  Corps  d'Afrique  would  add  a 
third  element.  It  was  therefore  found  convenient  on 
every  account  to  name  an  immediate  commander  for 
the  Nineteenth  Corps,  and  for  this  post  Franklin's 
rank,  service,  and  experience  plainly  indicated  him. 
The  assignment  was  made  on  the  i5th  of  August,  and 
Franklin  took  command  at  Baton  Rouge  on  the  2Oth. 
Then  Weitzel  was  designated  to  command  the  First 
division.  However,  there  were  during  the  next  few 
months,  among  the  commanders  of  all  grades,  so 
many  changes,  due  to  illness  or  absence,  that  only 
confusion  could  follow  the  attempt  to  tell  them  all. 

The  artillery  of  the  corps  was  redistributed  to 
correspond  with  the  new  organization,  and  the  cavalry 
was  concentrated  at  Baton  Rouge,  Plaquemine,  Thi- 
bodeaux,  and  New  Orleans,  with  orders  that  all  de 
tails  for  orderly  duty  and  the  like  were  to  be  furnished 
from  a  single  battalion,  the  i4th  New  York,  attached 
to  the  defences  of  New  Orleans. 

Weitzel's  division,  except  his  old  brigade  under 
Merritt,  took  post  at  Baton  Rouge,  where  also 
Emory's  division  was  encamped,  successively  com 
manded  by  Nickerson  and  McMillan,  while  Grover's 
division,  assigned  to  the  defence  of  New  Orleans, 
was  separated,  Birge  occupying  La  Fourche,  with 
headquarters  at  Thibodeaux,  and  Cahill  forming  the 
garrison  of  New  Orleans. 

At  Port  Hudson,  after  the  departure  of  the  nine- 
months'  troops,  Andrews  had  the  6th  Michigan 
newly  converted  into  the  ist  Michigan  heavy  artil 
lery,  ten  troops  of  the  3d  Massachusetts  cavalry, 
Rawles's,  Holcomb's,  and  Barnes's  batteries ;  and 
besides  these  the  infantry  of  the  Corps  d'Afrique, 


IN  SUMMER  QUARTERS.  261 

then  in  process  of  organization,  including,  at  the  end 
of  August,  the  old  ist  and  3d  regiments  and  the  five 
regiments  of  Ullmann's  brigade — the  6th  to  the  loth. 
The  return  of  the  post  for  the  3ist  of  August 
accounts  for  an  effective  force  of  5,427  ;  of  these 
1,815  belonged  to  the  white  troops  and  3,612  to  the 
colored  regiments.  The  whole  number  of  infantry 
regiments  of  the  Corps  d'Afrique,  then  authorized, 
was  nineteen,  of  which  only  the  first  four  were  com 
pleted.  Besides  these  there  were  two  regiments  of 
engineers,  the  ist  full,  the  2d  about  half  full,  and 
three  companies  of  heavy  artillery,  making  the  whole 
muster  of  colored  troops  in  the  department  about 
10,000.  Towards  the  end  of  September  the  regi 
ments  of  infantry  numbered  twenty,  with  ranks  fairly 
filled.  The  Corps  d'Afrique  was  then  organized  in 
two  divisions  of  two  brigades  each,  Ullmann  com 
manding  the  First  division  and  the  senior  colonel  the 
Second.  Rawles's  battery  was  assigned  to  the  First 
division  and  Holcomb's  to  the  Second.  This  divi 
sion,  however,  never  became  much  more  than  a 
skeleton,  its  First  brigade  being  from  the  first  de 
tached  by  regiments  for  garrison  duty  in  the  various 
fortifications. 

Andrews  at  once  took  up  the  work  of  organization 
and  instruction  in  earnest,  rightly  conceiving  it  not 
merely  possible,  but  even  essential,  to  give  to  the 
officers  and  men  of  the  colored  regiments,  thus  formed 
into  an  army  corps  under  his  command,  a  degree  of 
instruction,  as  well  in  tactics  as  in  the  details  of  a 
soldier's  duty,  higher  than  was  to  be  found  in  any 
save  a  few  picked  regiments  of  the  volunteer  and 
regular  service.  The  prejudice  at  first  entertained 
against  the  bare  idea  of  service  with  colored  troops 


262  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

had  not  entirely  disappeared,  yet  it  had  so  far  lost  its 
edge  that  it  was  now  possible  to  select  from  a  number 
of  applicants  for  promotion,  especially  to  the  higher 
grades,  officers  who  had  already  shown  their  fitness 
and  their  capacity,  while  holding  inferior  commissions 
or  serving  in  the  ranks  of  the  white  regiments.  Thus 
the  original  source  of  weakness  in  the  composition  of 
the  first  three  regiments  was  avoided,  and,  small  poli 
tics  and  local  influence  being  of  course  absent,  and 
Banks's  instructions  being  urgent  to  choose  only  the 
best  men,  the  colored  regiments  soon  had  a  fine  corps 
of  officers.  To  the  work  now  before  him  Andrews 
brought  an  equipment  and  a  training  such  as  few 
officers  possessed.  Experience  had  shown  him  the 
merit,  the  capacity,  and  the  defects  of  the  American 
volunteer  officer.  At  the  very  bottom  of  these  de 
fects  was  the  looseness  of  his  early  instruction  in  the 
elements  of  his  duty  ;  once  wrongly  taught  by  an 
instructor,  himself  careless  or  ignorant,  he  was  likely 
to  go  on  conscientiously  making  the  same  mistake  to 
the  end  of  his  term.  Realizing  his  opportunity, 
Andrews  set  about  establishing  uniformity  in  all 
details  of  drill  and  duty  by  establishing  a  school  of 
officers.  These  he  himself  taught  with  the  greatest 
pains  and  industry,  correcting  the  slovenly,  yet  en 
couraging  the  willing,  until  the  whole  corps  was 
brought  up  to  a  uniform  standard,  and  on  the  whole 
a  high  one. 

Stone  succeeded  Andrews  as  Chief  of  Staff  at  de 
partment  headquarters  on  the  25th  of  July. 

Franklin's  staff,  as  commander  of  the  Nineteenth 
Army  Corps  in  the  field,  included  Major  Wickham 
Hoffman,  Assistant  Adjutant-General ;  Colonel  Ed 
ward  L.  Molineux,  Acting  Assistant  Inspector-Gen- 


IN  SUMMER  QUARTERS.  263 

eral ;  Lieutenant-Colonel  John  G.  Chandler,  Chief 
Quartermaster;  Lieutenant-Colonel  Henry  D.  Wood 
ruff,  Chief  Commissary  of  Subsistence ;  Surgeon 
John  H.  Rauch,  Medical  Director;  Captain  Henry 
W.  Closson,  Chief  of  Artillery ;  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Joseph  Bailey,  Acting  Chief  Engineer  ;  Captain  Will 
iam  A.  Pigman,  Chief  Signal  Officer. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

A  FOOTHOLD  IN  TEXAS. 

BANKS  now  wished  and  proposed  to  move  on  Mo 
bile,  which  he  rightly  supposed  to  be  defended  by 
about  5,000  men.1  This  had  indeed  been  among  the 
objects  specially  contemplated  by  his  first  instructions 
from  the  government,  and  in  the  progress  of  events 
had  now  become  the  next  in  natural  order.  Grant 
and  Farragut  were  of  the  same  mind  ;  but  other  ideas 
had  arisen,  and  now  the  government,  anxious  to 
avert  the  impending  risk  of  European  complications, 
deemed  it  of  the  first  importance  that  the  flag  of  the 
nation  should,  without  delay,  be  restored  at  some 
point  in  Texas.  The  place  and  the  plan  were  left 
discretionary  with  Banks,  but  peremptory  orders 
were  given  him  to  carry  out  the  object.2 

Texas  had  no  military  value  at  that  moment.  To 
have  overrun  the  whole  State  would  hardly  have 
shortened  the  war  by  a  single  day.  The  possession 
of  Mobile,  on  the  other  hand,  would,  besides  its  direct 
consequences,  have  exercised  an  important  if  not  a 
vital  influence  upon  the  critical  operations  in  the 
central  theatre  of  war ;  would  have  taken  from  the 

1  Banks  to  Halleck  July  30  and  August   i,    1863:   "Official  Records,"  vol. 
xxvi.,  part  I,  pp.  66 1,  666. 

2  Halleck  to  Banks,  July  24,  .1863,  July  3ist,  August  6th,  August  roth,  August 
I2th  :   "  Official  Records,"  vol.  xxvi.,  part  I,  pp.  652,  664,  672,  673,  675. 

264 


A  FOOTHOLD  IN  TEXAS.  265 

Confederates  their  only  remaining  line  of  railway 
communication  between  the  Atlantic  seaboard  and 
the  States  bordering  on  the  Mississippi  ;  would  have 
weakened  the  well-nigh  fatal  concentration  against 
Rosecrans  at  Chickamauga  and  Chattanooga  ;  would 
have  eased  the  hard  task  of  Sherman  in  his  progress 
to  Atlanta ;  and  would  have  given  him  a  safe  line  of 
retreat  in  the  event  of  misfortune.  What  was  it, 
then,  that  persuaded  the  government  to  put  aside  its 
designs  on  Mobile,  to  give  up  the  offensive,  to  refrain 
from  gathering  the  fruits  of  its  successes  on  the  Mis 
sissippi,  in  order  to  embark  in  the  pursuit  of  objects 
avowedly  "  other  than  military  "  ? 

A  series  of  acts  and  events,  more  or  less  menacing 
in  character,  seemed  to  indicate  a  concerted  purpose 
on  the  part  of  some,  at  least,  of  the  leading  nations 
of  Europe  to  interfere  in  the  domestic  affairs  of  the 
United  States  against  the  government  of  the  United 
States.  The  powerful  rams,  intended  for  the  recap 
ture  of  New  Orleans,  that  were  being  almost  openly 
built  to  the  order  of  the  Confederacy  in  the  port  of 
Liverpool,  in  the  very  shipyards  whence  the  Alabama 
had  gone  to  sea,  were  approaching  completion.  Other 
iron-clads,  not  less  powerful,  were  under  construction 
in  France,  with  the  personal  connivance  of  the  Em 
peror,  upon  the  flimsy  pretence  that  they  were  in 
tended  for  the  imperial  government  of  China.  Finally, 
on  the  loth  of  June,  casting  all  promises  and  pretexts 
to  the  winds,  the  French  troops  had  marched  into  the 
capital  of  Mexico,  made  themselves  masters  of  the 
country,  vamped  up  a  sham  throne,  and  upon  it  set 
an  Austrian  puppet.  That  Napoleon  III.  nursed 
among  his  favorite  dreams  the  vision  of  a  Latin  em 
pire  in  America,  built  upon  the  ruins  of  Mexican 


266  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

liberty  and  taking  in  at  least  the  fairest  portion  of 
the  Louisiana  that  his  illustrious  uncle  had  parted 
with  so  cheaply,  was  well  known.  Against  the  in 
convenient  spread  of  this  ambition  the  occupation  of 
some  part,  of  any  part,  of  Texas,  was  intended  as  a 
diplomatic  caution.  That  the  warning  cast  its  shadow 
even  upon  the  dark  mind  of  Louis  Napoleon  Bona 
parte  there  can  be  no  doubt ;  yet  in  the  meantime 
there  had  occurred  in  quick  succession  three  events 
that  must  have  sounded  in  his  ears  with  tones  that 
even  his  dull  imagination  could  not  easily  misunder 
stand.  These  were  Gettysburg,  Vicksburg,  and  Port 
Hudson.  He  had  not  the  least  notion  of  helping  the 
unsuccessful. 

The  whole  Confederate  force  under  Kirby  Smith 
in  the  trans-Mississippi  region  numbered  at  this  time 
about  33,000  effective.  Of  these,  about  4,000  were 
in  the  Indian  country,  8,000  in  Arkansas,  less  than 
14,000  in  Western  Louisiana,  and  rather  less  than 
7,000  in  Texas.  Of  the  forces  in  Louisiana  under 
Taylor,  about  3,000  were  in  the  extreme  northern 
district.  Magruder,  whose  headquarters  were  at 
Houston,  and  who  commanded  not  only  the  whole 
of  Texas  but  nominally  New  Mexico  and  Arizona 
besides,  was  keeping  rather  more  than  two  thirds  of 
his  forces  for  the  defence  of  Galveston  and  the  line 
of  the  Sabine,  while  the  remainder  were  distributed 
on  the  Rio  Grande,  at  Corpus  Christi,  San  Antonio, 
and  Indianola  ;  he  had  not  2,000  men  together  any 
where,  nor  could  even  Kirby  Smith  have  concentrated 
20,000  at  any  single  point  without  giving  up  all  the 
rest  of  the  vast  territory  confided  to  his  care. 

At  the  end  of  August  Banks  had  nearly  37,000 
officers  and  men  for  duty.  Of  these,  about  13,000 


A  FOOTHOLD  IN  TEXAS.  267 

belonged  to  the  Thirteenth  Corps  and  about  6,500  to 
that  portion  of  the  Nineteenth  Corps,  being  the  First 
and  Third  divisions,  that  was  concentrated  and  ready 
for  active  service  in  the  field.  The  defences  of  New 
Orleans,  including  La  Fourche,  absorbed  7,000 ;  Port 
Hudson,  5,500;  the  rest  were  holding  Baton  Rouge, 
Key  West,  and  Pensacola. 

Yielding  his  own  views  as  to  Mobile,  Banks  entered 
heartily  into  the  project  of  the  government  for  gain 
ing  a  foothold  in  Texas.  Learning  from  the  Navy 
that  the  mouth  of  the  Sabine  was  but  feebly  defended, 
while  the  entrance  was  practicable  for  gunboats  of 
light  draught,  he  conceived  the  plan  of  descending 
suddenly  upon  the  coast  at  that  point  with  a  force 
sufficient  to  march  to  Houston  and  take  Galveston 
in  reverse.  He  selected  the  troops,  and  collected  the 
transports  and  the  stores.  When  he  was  ready  he 
gave  the  command  of  the  expedition  to  Franklin,  and 
caused  Beckwith  to  replace  Emory  in  command  of 
the  defences  of  New  Orleans,  to  enable  him  to  rejoin 
his  division  for  service  in  the  field. 

Franklin  had  the  brigades  under  Love  and  Merritt 
of  Weitzel's  First  division,  with  Bainbridge's,  Clos- 
son's,  and  Bradbury's  batteries,  and  the  two  brigades, 
Nickerson's  and  McMillan's,  of  Emory's  Third  divi 
sion,  with  Duryea's,  Trull's,  and  Hebard's  batteries. 
For  cavalry  there  were  the  two  squadrons  of  the  ist 
Texas.  Commodore  Bell,  who  then  commanded  the 
West  Gulf  Squadron,  gave  the  command  of  the  gun 
boats,  destined  to  keep  down  the  fire  of  the  shore 
batteries  and  cover  the  landing  of  the  troops,  to 
Lieutenant  Frederick  Crocker,  from  whose  personal 
observation  while  serving  on  the  blockade  the  infor 
mation  that  led  to  the  choice  of  the  point  of  attack 


268  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

had  been  largely  drawn.  Crocker,  besides  his  own 
vessel,  the  Clifton,  had  the  Sachem,  Lieutenant  Amos 
Johnson  ;  the  Arizona,  Acting-Master  Howard  Tib- 
betts  ;  the  Granite  City,  Acting-M aster  C.  W.  Lam- 
son.  Crocker's  belief  was  that  the  defences  ashore 
and  afloat  consisted  of  two  32-pounder  guns  in  bat 
tery,  and  two  small  steamboats  converted  into  rams. 

Franklin's  orders  were  to  proceed  to  Sabine  Pass  ; 
there,  if  the  Navy  should  be  able  to  secure  the  land 
ing,  he  was  to  debark  his  whole  force  rapidly,  take  up 
a  strong  position,  seize  Beaumont,  or  some  other 
point  on  the  railroad  to  Houston,  and  then  reconnoi 
tre  the  enemy  to  learn  their  position  and  strength. 
He  was  not  to  go  farther  into  the  country  until  re 
inforced.  After  landing,  he  was  to  turn  back  the 
transports  to  Brashear,  where  Benton's  division  of 
the  Thirteenth  Corps  would  be  found  waiting  to  join 
him. 

After  many  delays,  due  to  the  state  and  inadequacy 
of  the  transports,  which,  besides  ten  ocean  steamers, 
fit  and  unfit,  included  six  river  steamers  wholly  of 
the  latter  class,  Weitzel  sailed  from  New  Orleans  on 
the  evening  of  the  4th  of  September.  Leaving  the 
Southwest  Pass  on  the  morning  of  the  5th,  under 
convoy  of  the  Arizona,  and  steering  westward,  he 
was  joined,  early  on  the  following  morning,  off  Ber 
wick  Bay,  by  the  Clifton  and  the  Sachem.  A  de 
tachment  of  about  100  sharp-shooters,  mainly  from 
Companies  B  and  G  of  the  75th  New  York,  under 
Lieutenants  Root  and  Cox,  was  then  sent  aboard  the 
Clifton,  and  to  the  Sachem  an  officer  and  25  men 
from  the  i6ist  New  York. 

About  daylight  on  the  7th,  Crocker  became  con 
vinced  that  he'  had  overrun  his  distance  and  gone 


A  FOOTHOLD  IN  TEXAS.  269 

beyond  Sabine  Pass  ;  but  when  all  the  vessels  had 
put  about  and  for  three  or  four  hours  had  been  steer 
ing  to  the  eastward,  he  found  himself  off  the  entrance 
to  the  Calcasieu,  thirty  miles  east  of  the  Sabine. 
Then  he  and  Weitzel  agreed  that,  under  the  circum 
stances,  the  best  thing  to  be  done  was  to  intercept 
the  remainder  of  the  expedition,  supposed  to  be  fol 
lowing,  under  the  immediate  command  of  Franklin, 
and  assembling  the  whole  force  where  they  were  to 
wait  until  the  next  morning,  the  8th  of  September, 
for  the  attempt  at  Sabine  Pass.  But  the  arrange 
ment  had  been  that  the  attack  by  the  gunboats 
to  cover  Weitzel's  landing  was  to  be  made  early  on 
the  morning  of  the  7th.  Accordingly  Franklin,  with 
his  part  of  the  fleet,  carrying  the  supporting  force, 
had  already  passed  Berwick  Bay ;  in  fact,  at  eleven 
o'clock  he  was  off  Sabine  Pass  ;  and  the  Suffolk, 
bearing  the  headquarters  flag  of  the  Nineteenth 
Corps,  had  crossed  the  bar  and  was  about  to  run  in, 
the  others  following,  when  Franklin  perceived  that 
his  advance  had  not  yet  come  up,  and  therefore 
stopped  the  movement.  In  the  afternoon  Weitzel, 
seeing  nothing  of  Franklin's  fleet,  made  up  his  mind 
that  he  must  have  gone  by,  and  once  more  setting 
his  face  toward  the  west,  joined  Franklin  off  the 
Sabine  about  nine  o'clock  that  evening. 

After  the  full  and  open  notice  thus  given  the 
enemy,  all  thought  of  anything  like  a  surprise  was 
at  an  end  ;  yet  it  was  agreed  to  go  on  and  make  the 
attempt  the  next  morning.  Accordingly,  at  daylight 
on  the  8th,  Crocker,  with  the  Clifton  and  the  other 
gunboats,  followed  by  Weitzel  with  the  75th  New 
York  on  the  transport  steamer  Charles  Thomas, 
entered  the  harbor,  and  after  reconnoitring  the  land- 


270  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

ing-place  and  the  defences,  signalled  the  rest  of  the 
fleet  to  run  in.  Weitzel  put  a  picked  force  of  five 
hundred  men  on  the  transport  General  Banks,  and 
following  in  the  wake  of  the  four  gun-boats,  made 
ready  to  land  about  a  thousand  yards  below  the  fort. 

Shortly  before  four  o'clock  the  gunboats  moved  to 
the  attack.  Above  the  swamp  through  which  the 
Sabine  finds  an  outlet  to  the  Gulf,  the  shore  lies  low 
and  barren.  The  fort  or  sand  battery  was  placed  at 
the  turn  about  one  half  mile  below  the  hamlet  called 
Sabine  City,  opposite  the  upper  end  of  the  oyster  reef 
that  for  nearly  a  mile  divides  the  channel  into  two 
parts,  each  narrow  and  neither  straight.  The  Sachem, 
followed  by  the  Arizona,  took  the  eastern  or  Louisi 
ana  channel,  and  was  hardly  under  fire  before  a  shot 
struck  her  steampipe  and  completely  disabled  her. 
The  Clifton  moved  at  full  speed  up  the  western  or 
Texas  channel  until,  when  almost  directly  under  the 
guns  of  the  fort,  she  also  received  a  shot  through  her 
boilers,  grounding  at  the  same  time ;  and  thus,  nearly 
at  the  same  instant,  before  the  action  had  fairly 
begun,  the  two  leading  gunboats  were  completely 
disabled  and  at  the  mercy  of  the  enemy.  The  Louisi 
ana  channel  was  too  narrow  for  the  Arizona  to  pass 
the  Sachem  or  to  turn  about ;  so  at  the  moment  when 
the  Clifton  received  her  fatal  injury,  the  Arizona 
was  backing  down  the  eastern  channel  to  ascend  the 
western  to  her  assistance  ;  but  in  doing  this  she  also 
took  the  ground.  The  Sachem  hauled  down  her 
colors  and  hoisted  the  white  flag  at  the  fore,  and 
after  bravely  continuing  the  fight  for  twenty  minutes 
longer  the  Clifton  followed  suit. 

The  place  where  the  Clifton  grounded  was  fairly  in 
range  of  the  beach  where  Weitzel  was  expected  to 


A  FOOTHOLD  IN  TEXAS.  271 

land  his  troops.  There  may  have  been  a  minute,  or 
even  ten,  during  which  it  might  have  been  possible 
for  Weitzel,  breaking  away  from  the  concerted  plan, 
to  have  thrown  his  picked  men  ashore  while  the 
attention  of  the  Confederates  was  fixed  upon  the 
Clifton ;  yet,  although  this  criticism  has  been  sug 
gested  by  high  authority,  the  point  would  have  been 
a  fine  one  at  best ;  and  under  the  actual  circum 
stances,  with  the  Granite  City  in  the  channel  ahead, 
the  Arizona  aground,  and  the  guns  of  the  Sachem 
and  the  Clifton  about  to  be  added  to  those  with  which 
the  enemy  had  opened  the  action,  the  problem  be 
comes  one  of  pure  speculation.  What  is  clear  is  that 
the  landing  depended  upon  the  gunboats ;  that  these 
were  cruelly  beaten  before  they  had  a  chance  to  prove 
themselves ;  and  that  nothing  really  remained  to  do 
but  what  was  actually  done  :  that  is,  to  give  up  the 
expedition  and  go  home. 

It  is  true  that  the  orders  under  which  Franklin  was 
acting  indicated  that  if  he  found  a  landing  imprac 
ticable  at  Sabine  Pass  he  was  to  attempt  to  land  at 
some  other  place  near  by ;  and  it  is  also  true  that  the 
infantry  might  have  been  set  ashore  almost  anywhere 
in  the  soft  salt  marsh  that  serves  for  the  neighboring 
coasts  of  Louisiana  and  Texas ;  but  this  must  have 
been  without  their  guns  and  wagons  and  with  no  fresh 
water  save  what  they  carried  with  them  until  they 
should  have  moved  successfully  into  the  interior ; 
while  on  the  transports  the  stock  of  water  was  al 
ready  running  so  low  that  the  men  and  animals  were 
on  short  allowance.  Therefore,  with  the  loss  of  3 
officers  and  94  men  captured,  of  the  75th  New  York, 
6  killed,  2  drowned,  and  4  wounded,  and  200  mules 
and  200,000  rations  thrown  into  the  sea,  the  expedi- 


272  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

tion  returned  to  New  Orleans,  whence,  by  reason  of 
unseaworthiness  of  transports,  part  of  it  had  not  yet 
started.  The  transports  came  back  in  a  sorry  plight, 
the  Cahawba  on  one  wheel,  the  river  steamboat 
Laurel  Hill  without  her  smokestacks,  and  all  the 
others  of  her  class  with  their  frail  sides  stove.  The 
Clifton  and  the  Sachem,  whose  losses  are  but  partially 
reported,  lost  10  killed,  9  wounded,  and  39  missing. 
Nearly  all  the  rest  of  their  crews  were  taken  prisoners. 

The  Confederate  work,  known  as  Fort  Griffin, 
mounted  six  guns,  of  which  two  were  32-pounder 
smooth  bores,  two  24-pounder  smooth  bores,  and  two 
32-pounder  howitzers,  manned  by  a  single  company 
of  Cook's  regiment  of  Texas  artillery,  whose  strength 
is  stated  variously,  though  with  great  precision,  as  40, 
41,  42,  and  44  men.  This  company  was  commanded 
by  Lieutenant  Richard  W.  Dowling,  and  the  post  by 
Captain  Frederick  H.  Odium.  There  was  a  support 
ing  body  of  about  200  men,  as  well  as  the  gunboat 
Uncle  Ben,  but  Dowling's  company  was  the  only  force 
actually  engaged.  They  received,  and  certainly  de 
served,  the  thanks  of  the  Confederate  Congress. 

Still  intent  on  executing  the  instructions  of  the 
government,  and  having  in  mind  Halleck's  strong 
preference  for  an  overland  operation,  Banks  at  once 
gave  orders  to  concentrate  at  Brashear  for  a  move 
ment  up  the  Teche  as  far  as  Lafayette,  or  Ver 
milion,  and  thence  across  the  plains  by  Niblett's 
Bluff  into  Texas.  The  route  by  the  Atchafalaya  and 
the  Red  River,  Halleck's  favorite,  was  now  impracti 
cable,  for  both  rivers  were  at  their  lowest  stage,  and 
the  great  length  of  this  line  put  out  of  the  question 
the  movement  of  any  large  force  dependent  upon 
land  transport. 


A  FOOTHOLD  IN  TEXAS.  273 

During  the  last  fortnight  of  September,  Banks  con 
centrated  Weitzel's  and  Emory's  divisions  of  the  Nine 
teenth  Corps,  under  Franklin,  on  the  lower  Teche, 
near  Camp  Bisland,  supporting  them  with  Wash- 
burn's  and  McGinnis's  divisions  of  the  Thirteenth 
Corps,  under  Ord.  The  cavalry  division  under  A.  L. 
Lee  covered  the  front  towards  New  Iberia. 

Emory  being  forced  to  go  North  on  sick-leave,  his 
division  was  commanded  by  McMillan  from  the  i7th 
of  September  until  the  6th  of  October,  when  Grover 
relieved  him  after  turning  over  the  Fourth  division 
to  Beckwith. 

Birge,  with  his  reorganized  brigade,  occupied  La 
Fourche,  with  headquarters  at  Thibodeaux. 

Sharpe's  brigade  of  Weitzel's  division  remained  at 
Baton  Rouge,  with  Gooding  as  the  post  commander. 

Burbridge's  division  of  the  Thirteenth  Corps  re 
mained  at  Carrollton,  while  Herron's,  at  the  time  of 
the  Sabine  Pass  expedition,  had  been  posted  at  M  or 
ganza  to  observe  and  prevent  any  fresh  movement 
by  the  Confederates  across  the  upper  Atchafalaya. 

This  division  was  about  2,500  strong,  and  Herron, 
being  ill,  had  just  turned  over  the  command  to  Dana, 
when  on  the  2Qth  of  September  Green  swept  down 
with  Speight's  and  Mouton's  brigades  and  the  bat 
talions  of  Waller  and  Rountree  upon  the  outposts  on 
Bayou  Fordoche,  at  Sterling's  plantation,  killed  16, 
wounded  45,  and  took  454  prisoners,  including  nearly 
the  full  strength  of  the  iQth  Iowa  and  26th  Indiana. 
Green's  loss  was  26  killed,  85  wounded,  and  10  miss 
ing  ;  in  all,  212. 

On  the  3d  of  October  Franklin  broke  camp  at 
Bisland  and  moved  by  easy  marches  to  a  position 
near  the  south  bank  of  the  Bayou  Carencro,  meeting 

i3 


274  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

with  no  resistance  beyond  slight  skirmishing  at  the 
crossing  of  the  Vermilion.  On  the  nth  the  Nine 
teenth  Corps  encamped  within  two  miles  of  the  Ca- 
rencro,  its  daily  marches  having  been,  on  the  3d  to 
Franklin,  twelve  miles  ;  on  the  4th  to  Sorrell's  planta 
tion,  eleven  miles  ;  on  the  5th  to  Olivier's,  near  New 
Iberia,  thirteen  miles ;  on  the  8th  to  the  Vermilion, 
fifteen  miles ;  on  the  gth,  crossing  the  Vermilion, 
eight  miles;  on  the  nth  ten  miles;  in  all,  sixty-nine 
miles. 

Ord  with  the  Thirteenth  Corps,  meanwhile  aug 
mented  by  Burbridge's  division  from  Carrollton,  set 
out  from  Berwick  at  the  same  time  that  Franklin 
left  Bisland,  and,  following  at  an  interval  of  a  day's 
march,  encamped  on  the  loth  of  October  on  the  Ver 
milion.  On  the  1 4th  Ord  closed  up  on  Franklin  at 
the  Carencro.  A  week  later,  Ord  being  ill,  Wash- 
burn  took  command  of  the  detachment  of  the  Thir 
teenth  Corps,  his  division  falling  to  Lawler. 

Banks  with  his  staff  left  New  Orleans  on  the  7th  of 
October.  On  the  following  afternoon  he  joined  the 
forces  near  New  Iberia,  remaining  near  headquarters  in 
the  field  until  the  evening  of  the  1 1  th,  when  he  returned 
to  New  Orleans.  Stone  stayed  two  days  longer  and 
then  followed  his  chief.  This  left  Franklin  in  com 
mand  of  all  the  forces  in  Western  Louisiana,  number 
ing  about  19,500  for  duty,  namely,  11,000  of  the 
Thirteenth  Corps,  6,000  of  the  Nineteenth  Corps, 
and  2,500  of  the  cavalry  division.  Banks's  object  in 
returning  to  New  Orleans  was  to  organize  a  second 
expedition  for  the  coast  of  Texas.  The  advance  to 
the  Carencro  had  not  only  brought  his  army  face  to 
face  with  Taylor's  forces,  but  also  with  the  well-known 
conditions  that  would  have  to  be  met  and  overcome 


A  FOOTHOLD  IN  TEXAS.  275 

in  the  movement  beyond  the  Sabine.  All  idea  of 
this  march  of  more  than  two  hundred  miles  across  a 
barren  country,  with  no  water  in  the  summer  and  fall, 
while  in  the  winter  and  spring  there  is  plenty  of 
water  but  no  road,  was  now  given  up  once  for  all. 
Besides  the  natural  obstacles,  there  was  Magruder  to 
be  reckoned  with  at  the  end  of  the  march  and  Taylor 
in  the  rear. 

Taylor  had  now  about  11,000  effectives  in  the 
divisions  of  Mouton,  Walker,  and  Green,  with  eleven 
batteries.  To  occupy  him  and  to  push  him  farther 
away,  Franklin  marched  to  Opelousas  on  the  2ist  of 
October,  skirmishing  by  the  way,  and  until  the  end 
of  the  month  continued  to  occupy  a  position  covering 
that  town  and  Barre's  Landing. 

On  the  26th  of  October,  with  a  force  of  about 
4,000  effectives  of  the  Second  division  of  the  Thir 
teenth  Corps  under  Dana,  augmented  by  the  I3th 
and  1 5th  Maine,  the  ist  Engineers  and  i6th  infantry 
of  the  Corps  d'Afrique,  and  the  ist  Texas  cavalry, 
Banks  embarked  at  New  Orleans  for  the  mouth  of 
the  Rio  Grande.  After  long  delays  and  great  peril 
from  bad  weather,  the  expedition  landed  at  Brazos 
Santiago  between  the  3d  and  5th  of  November,  and 
on  the  6th  occupied  Point  Isabel  and  Brownsville,  dis 
tant  thirty  miles  on  the  main  land. 

Having  thus  at  last  secured  the  foothold  in  Texas 
so  urgently  desired  by  the  government,  Banks,  who 
had  now  entered  heartily  into  this  expansive  scheme, 
set  about  occupying  successively  all  the  passes  or  in 
lets  that  connect  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  with  the  land 
locked  lagoons  or  sounds  of  the  Texas  coast  from  the 
Rio  Grande  to  the  Sabine. 

Accordingly,  he  sent  for  the  rest  of  the  Thirteenth 


276  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

Corps,  and  by  the  end  of  December  had  taken  posses 
sion  of  the  fringe  of  the  coast  as  far  east  and  north 
as  Matagorda  Bay.  So  far  he  had  met  with  little 
opposition,  the  Confederate  force  in  this  part  of 
Texas  being  small.  The  Brazos  and  Galveston  were 
still  to  be  gained,  and  here,  if  anywhere  in  Texas,  a 
vigorous  resistance  was  to  be  counted  on.  Banks 
was  bending  everything  to  the  attempt  when,  as  the 
new  year  opened,  the  government  stopped  him,  and 
turned  his  head  in  a  new  direction. 

During  these  operations  on  the  Texan  coast  the 
1 3th  Maine,  commanded  by  Lieutenant-Colonel  Hes- 
seltine,  and  the  i5th  Maine  formed  part  of  the  Second 
division  of  the  Thirteenth  Corps.  Both  regiments 
did  good  service,  especially  under  Ransom,  in  the  ex 
pedition  that,  led  by  Washburn,  landed  on  Mustang 
Island  on  the  i6th  of  November,  took  the  Confederate 
battery  commanding  Aransas  Pass,  and  then,  crossing 
to  Matagorda  Island,  rapidly  reduced  Fort  Esperanza, 
and  thus  gained  the  control  of  Matagorda  Bay  before 
the  month  was  out. 


CHAPTER    XXII. 

WINTER    QUARTERS. 

IN  preparation  for  Washburn's  departure  on  the 
27th  of  October,  Franklin  began  to  draw  back  from 
Opelousas  to  New  Iberia.  Lawler  led  off,  and  was 
followed  on  the  ist  of  November  by  McGinnis, 
Grover,  Weitzel,  and  the  cavalry  under  Fonda,  in 
the  order  named.  Burbridge,  followed  by  Mudd's 
cavalry  brigade,  took  the  Teche  road,  by  Grand 
Coteau. 

On  the  3d,  while  the  Nineteenth  Corps  rested  at 
the  Vermilion  and  McGinnis  at  the  Carencro,  Bur- 
bridge,  who  was  in  camp  on  Bayou  Bourbeau,  was 
surprised  by  the  sudden  descent  of  Green  with  two 
brigades.  Burbridge  had  with  him  only  his  First 
brigade,  about  1,200  strong,  with  500  men  of  the 
n8th  Illinois  mounted  infantry  and  the  I4th  New 
York  cavalry,  under  Fonda,  Rice's  1 7th  Ohio  battery, 
and  Marland's  section  of  Nims's  battery  ;  in  all,  1,625 
men.  The  23d  Wisconsin,  96th  Ohio,  6oth  Indiana, 
and  the  gunners  of  Rice  and  Nims  fought  hard  to 
prevent  a  rout  and  to  save  the  wagon-trains  and  the 
artillery ;  and,  McGinnis  coming  up  in  good  time, 
Green  drew  off,  taking  with  him  nothing  save  one  of 
the  Ohio  lo-pounder  Parrotts.  At  one  moment  both 
of  Marland's  guns,  abandoned  by  their  supports, 
were  completely  cut  off  by  the  Confederate  cavalry, 

277 


278  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

but  Marland,  rising  to  the  occasion,  bade  his  can 
noneers  draw  their  revolvers,  and  charged  at  a  full 
gallop  directly  through  the  lines  of  Green's  cavalry, 
to  the  complete  astonishment  of  both  armies,  and 
came  into  battery  on  the  right  of  the  46th  Indiana. 
"The  bringing  off  of  the  section  of  Nims's  battery, 
commanded  by  Lieutenant  Marland,"  says  Washburn, 
"  after  the  regiment  sent  to  its  support  had  sur 
rendered,  extorted  the  admiration  of  every  beholder." 

Marland's  loss  in  this  brilliant  little  affair  was  but 
two  men  missing.  Burbridge  had  25  killed,  129 
wounded,  and  562  captured  or  missing;  in  all,  716. 
Green  reports  his  loss  as  22  killed,  103  wounded,  and 
53  missing.  Green's  report  shows  that  he  had  in  the 
fight  three  regiments  of  infantry,  seven  of  cavalry, 
and  two  sections  of  artillery. 

With  frequent  skirmishing,  but  without  serious 
molestation,  the  march  was  continued,  and  on  the 
1 7th  of  November,  the  Nineteenth  Corps  went  into 
camp  at  New  Iberia. 

By  the  end  of  December  the  Thirteenth  Corps, 
except  Sheldon's  brigade  which  was  at  Plaquemine, 
had  been  gradually  transferred  to  the  Texas  coast. 
Thus  Franklin  was  left  to  hold  the  line  of  the  Teche 
with  little  more  than  5,000  men  of  the  Nineteenth 
Corps  and  about  3,500  of  Lee's  cavalry.  This,  with 
the  winter  nights  and  the  winter  roads,  was  too  small 
a  force  to  hold  a  position  so  advanced  and  so  exposed 
as  New  Iberia,  even  if  there  had  been  any  longer  an 
object  in  doing  so. 

Accordingly,  on  the  evening  of  the  5th  of  January, 
marching  orders  were  issued  for  the  following  morn 
ing  ;  but  in  the  night  a  drizzling  rain  came  on  and, 
freezing  as  it  fell,  coated  the  deep,  dense  mud  with  a 


WINTER  QUARTERS.  279 

glaze  of  ice.  The  march  was  therefore  put  off  a  day, 
and  on  the  morning  of  the  7th,  through  a  frozen 
bog,  a  biting  norther  blowing,  and  the  weather  un 
usually  cold  for  this  region,  the  Nineteenth  Corps 
floundered  back  to  Franklin.  The  best  of  the  roads 
were  bad  enough,  but  those  across  the  bends,  used  in 
ordinary  seasons  as  cut-offs,  were  now  impassable 
sloughs,  so  the  troops  had  to  march  nearly  the  full 
length  of  the  bayou.  Here  a  novel  form  of  straggling 
was  introduced  through  the  ever  industrious  ingenuity 
of  the  lazy,  many  of  whom  contrived  to  leave 
the  ranks,  and,  crossing  the  levee,  seized  canoes  or 
made  rafts,  and  tranquilly  floated  down  the  bayou 
ahead  of  their  plodding  comrades. 

On  the  morning  of  the  gth  of  January  the  corps 
went  into  winter  quarters  at  Franklin.  Tents  were 
not  issued  until  a  month  later,  but  meanwhile 
the  men  built  shelters  and  huts  for  themselves  of 
such  materials  as  they  could  find  on  the  plantations 
or  in  the  wooded  swamps  ;  and  with  branches  of  live 
oak  and  boughs  of  laurel  and  the  long  gray  Spanish 
moss,  they  constructed  for  their  camps  a  lavish  orna 
mentation  of  arbors  and  arches,  mimic  forts  and 
sham  monitors. 

The  terms  of  service  of  the  older  regiments  enlisted 
in  the  early  days  of  1861  being  about  to  expire,  the 
government  now  offered  a  bounty  and  a  furlough  for 
thirty  days  to  all  veterans  who  should  again  enlist  for 
three  years  or  during  the  war ;  and  in  carrying  out 
this  plan  Banks  arranged  to  send  home  in  each  month, 
beginning  with  February,  at  least  two  regiments  of  re- 
enlisted  veterans  from  each  corps.  Of  the  nineteen 
regiments  and  six  batteries  of  the  Nineteenth  Corps 
raised  in  1861,  every  one  promptly  embraced  these 


280  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

terms.  In  some  regiments  nearly  every  man  present 
re-enlisted.  The  7th  Vermont  enrolled  every  survivor, 
save  59,  of  the  original  muster;  in  the  i3th  Connecti 
cut  out  of  406  present  400  signed  ;  the  26th  Massa 
chusetts  returned  546.  To  make  up,  in  part,  for  the 
temporary  loss  to  be  accounted  for  from  this  cause,  the 
government  sent  down  four  fine  regiments,  well  com 
manded,  the  2Qth  Maine,  the  3Oth  Maine,  the  i53d 
New  York,  and  the  i4th  New  Hampshire,  and,  these 
being  assigned  to  the  Nineteenth  Corps,  the  first 
three  joined  the  First  division,  but  the  I4th  New 
Hampshire  came  too  late  for  the  campaign,  and  was 
assigned  to  temporary  duty  near  New  Orleans.  About 
the  same  time  Nields's  ist  Delaware  battery  and 
Storer's  7th  Massachusetts  battery  joined  the  corps. 
The  idea  of  a  foothold  in  Texas  had  been  gradually 
swelling  until  at  length  it  had  attained  the  dimensions 
of  an  overland  army  of  occupation.  For  this  the 
nature  of  the  region  to  be  traversed,  as  well  as  the 
character  of  the  enemy  to  be  met,  demanded  a  large 
mounted  force.  Therefore  the  government  sent  from 
Washington  and  from  other  Northern  stations  the 
2d  New  York  veteran  cavalry,  the  nth  New  York, 
the  1 8th  New  York,  the  2d  Maine,  the  3d  Rhode 
Island,  the  I2th  Illinois,  and  the  3d  Maryland,  and 
from  the  West  many  horses.  Banks  also  mounted 
seven  more  regiments  of  infantry,  and  having  thus 
raised  Lee's  cavalry  division,  when  all  had  joined,  to 
nineteen  regiments,  they  were  finally  organized  in 
five  brigades,  with  three  batteries  of  horse  artillery, 
namely,  Duryea's,  Rawles's,  and  Nims's.  These  three 
batteries  were  thus  lost  to  the  Nineteenth  Corps,  and 
with  them  four  of  the  mounted  infantry  regiments, 
the  2d  Louisiana,  the  75th  New  York,  the  8th  New 


WINTER  QUARTERS.  281 

Hampshire,  and  the  3ist  Massachusetts;  the  last 
three  only  for  a  time. 

Returning  from  sick-leave,  Emory  relieved  Weitzel 
in  command  of  the  First  division  on  the  i3th  of  De 
cember.  Weitzel  presently  went  North  on  special 
service  and  did  not  resume  his  command  but  was 
transferred  in  the  spring  to  the  Army  of  the  James. 

In  February,  1864,  while  the  Nineteenth  Corps  lay 
in  camp  at  Franklin,  it  was  once  more  re-organized  by 
breaking  up  the  First,  Third  and  Fourth  divisions, 
and  forming  two  new  divisions,  the  First,  commanded 
by  Emory,  comprising  the  brigades  of  Dwight,  Me 
Millan  and  Benedict ;  the  Second  division,  commanded 
by  Grover,  composed  of  the  brigades  of  Nickerson, 
Birge,  and  Sharpe.  Emory's  division  was  already 
concentrated  on  the  Teche,  but  Grover's  brigades 
were  separated,  Nickerson's  being  in  the  defences  of 
New  Orleans,  Birge's  in  La  Fourche,  and  Sharpe's  at 
Baton  Rouge.  The  first  intention  was  to  concentrate 
the  division  at  Madisonville,  and  move  it  by  rail  to 
join  Franklin ;  but  events  interposed. 

The  Corps  staff  serving  at  this  time  at  headquar 
ters  in  the  field  included  Colonel  Charles  C.  Dwight. 
acting  assistant  inspector-general ;  Surgeon  Eugene  F. 
Sanger,  medical  director ;  Captain  J.  G.  Oltman,  topo 
graphical  engineer ;  Captain  Thomas  H.  Annable, 
commissary  of  musters;  Captain  A.  W.  Chapman, 
judge-advocate ;  Lieutenant  John  J.  Williamson, 
ordnance  officer;  Captain  Henry  C.  In  wood,  provost- 
marshal;  Captain  John  P.  Baker,  Captain  George  M. 
Franklin,  and  Lieutenant  David  Lyon,  aides-de-camp. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

THE  RED  RIVER. 

SEVEN  months  had  thus  been  spent  in  desultory 
adventures  and  in  multitudinous  preparations  without  a 
serious  military  object,  and  still  the  capture  of  Mobile 
was  to  be  put  off,  and  still  the  dream  of  a  foothold  in 
Texas  was  to  be  pursued.  As  for  Texas,  if  the 
government  had,  especially  at  this  time,  any  settled 
plan,  it  is  by  no  means  easy  to  make  out  what  it  was. 
In  the  previous  July  the  occupation  of  some  point  in 
Texas  had  been  put  forward  by  Halleck  as  an  object 
of  paramount  importance.  At  first  the  particular 
place  and  manner  were  of  no  consequence  ;  yet,  when 
the  mouth  of  the  Rio  Grande  had  been  seized,  with 
the  effect  of  cutting  off  the  contraband  trade  of  Mat- 
amoras,  Seward,  who  may  be  supposed  to  have  known 
the  diplomatic  purposes  of  the  government,  was 
frankly  delighted,  while  Halleck,  who  must  be  re 
garded  as  expressing  its  military  views,  was  as  frankly 
disgusted.  Finally,  when  not  one  foothold  but  many 
footholds  had  been  gained  along  the  coast  of  Texas, 
Halleck  wound  up  the  long  correspondence  *  by  renew 
ing  his  instructions  of  the  previous  summer,  looking  to 
a  combined  naval  and  military  operation  on  the  Red 
River  upon  a  scale  even  greater  than  that  originally 
contemplated  ;  for  now,  besides  the  great  fleet  of  iron- 

1  January  4,  1864 — Official  Records,  vol.  xxxiv,  part  ii.,  p.  15. 
282 


THE  RED  RIVER.  283 

clads  under  Porter,  the  project  was  to  absorb  the 
available  strength  of  three  armies.  Banks  was  to 
move  northward  by  the  Atchafalaya ;  Steele  was  to 
advance  from  the  line  of  the  Arkansas ;  and  from 
Vicksburg  Grant  was  to  send  Sherman,  with  such 
troops  as  he  could  spare.  Grant,  Banks,  Sherman, 
and  Steele,  as  well  as  Admiral  Porter,  received 
corresponding  instructions  at  the  same  time,  and, 
understanding  them  in  the  same  sense,  the  Red  River 
expedition  was  fairly  launched. 

Once  committed  to  the  scheme,  Banks  devoted 
himself  loyally  to  the  arrangements  necessary  for 
prosecuting  it  on  a  scale  at  least  commensurate  with 
the  magnitude  of  the  undertaking  and  with  the  expec 
tations  of  the  government,  as  he  understood  them. 
Texas  was  to  be  his  objective,  and  he  was  to  lead 
his  army  up  the  Red  River,  as  the  shortest  and  best 
way  to  Texas.  From  the  outset  he  was  committed  to 
the  use  of  a  large  body  of  cavalry  able  to  operate  on 
the  plains  that  lie  beyond  the  Sabine,  as  well  as  to 
overcome  the  opposition  of  the  mounted  forces  of  the 
Confederacy  in  that  region.  Not  only  was  forage 
scarce  in  the  Red  River  country,  but,  Shreveport 
once  taken  and  passed,  the  march  would  lie  for  three 
hundred  miles  across  a  desert ;  an  immense  forage 
train  was  therefore  indispensable.  It  was  also  rea 
sonable  to  suppose  that,  before  passing  Shreveport, 
the  combined  armies  of  the  Confederacy  in  the  trans- 
Mississippi  would  have  to  be  met  and  beaten,  and  for 
this  end  a  large  force  of  infantry  and  artillery  must 
also  form  part  of  the  expedition,  at  least  as  far  as 
Shreveport.  The  co-operation  of  the  Navy  was 
necessary,  in  its  turn,  if  only  to  keep  open  the 
long  line  of  supply  by  the  Red  River.  Finally  the 


284  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

* 

usual  time  of  the  highest  water  in  the  upper  Red 
River  fixed  the  date  of  the  movement. 

Sherman  came  from  Vicksburg  to  New  Orleans 
on  the  ist  of  March,  and  within  a  few  hours  reached 
a  distinct  agreement  with  Banks  as  to  the  aid  ex 
pected  from  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee.  Admiral 
Porter  had  already  arranged  to  be  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Red  River  with  a  large  fleet  of  gunboats  in  time  for 
the  rising  of  the  waters  ;  and  now  Sherman  promised 
to  send  with  the  fleet  ten  thousand  picked  men  of  his 
army,  to  be  at  Alexandria  on  the  i7th  of  March. 
Banks,  on  his  part,  agreed  that  his  troops,  marching 
north  by  the  Teche,  should  meet  Sherman's  at  Alexan 
dria.  Steele,  who  was  at  Little  Rock,  undertook  to 
move  at  the  same  time  to  meet  the  combined  forces 
and  the  fleet  on  the  Red  River.  Confronting  Steele 
was  Price  ;  across  Banks's  line  of  advance  stood  Tay 
lor  ;  with  the  whole  or  any  part  of  his  force,  Sherman 
and  Porter  might  have  to  reckon,  and  in  any  case 
Fort  De  Russy  must  be  neutralized  or  reduced  before 
they  could  get  to  Alexandria. 

Thus  upon  a  given  day  two  armies  and  a  fleet,  hun 
dreds  of  miles  apart,  were  to  concentrate  at  a  remote 
point  far  within  the  enemy's  lines,  situated  on  a  river 
always  difficult  and  uncertain  of  navigation,  and  now 
obstructed  and  fortified.  Not  often  in  the  history 
of  war  is  the  same  fundamental  principle  twice  vio 
lated  in  the  same  campaign  ;  yet  here  it  was  so,  and 
even  in  the  same  orders,  for  after  once  concentrating 
within  the  enemy's  lines  at  Alexandria,  the  united 
forces  of  Banks,  Sherman,  and  Porter  were  actually 
to  meet  those  of  Steele  within  the  enemy's  lines  at 
Shreveport,  where  Kirby  Smith,  strongly  fortified 
moreover,  was  within  three  hundred  miles,  roughly 


THE  RED  RIVER.  285 

speaking,  of  either  Banks  or  Steele,  while  Steele  was 
separated  from  Banks  by  nearly  five  hundred  miles  of 
hostile  territory,  practically  unknown  to  any  one  in 
the  Union  armies,  and  neither  commander  could 
communicate  with  the  other  save  by  rivers  in  their 
rear,  over  a  long  circuit,  destined  to  lengthen  with 
each  day's  march,  as  they  should  approach  their  com 
mon  enemy  in  his  central  stronghold. 

Perhaps  the  most  remarkable  thing  about  all  this 
was  Sherman's  ready  and  express  assent  to  the  disre 
gard  of  the  first  rule  of  the  great  art  of  which  he  had 
always  been  an  earnest  student  and  long  past  a  mas 
ter  :  yet  it  is  to  be  observed  that  Sherman  knew  the 
Red  River  country  better  than  any  one  in  the  Union 
armies  ;  he  knew  well  the  scanty  numbers  and  the 
scattered  state  of  the  hostile  forces ;  with  him,  as 
well  as  with  Admiral  Porter,  this  movement  had 
long  been  a  favorite ;  he  had  indeed  hoped  and 
expected  to  undertake  it  himself  ;  but  he  evidently 
had  in  mind  a  quick  and  bold  movement,  having  for 
its  object  the  destruction  of  the  Confederate  depots 
and  workshops  at  Shreveport,  without  giving  the 
enemy  notice,  breathing  space,  or  time  to  concen 
trate.  But  this  was  not  to  be.  On  learning,  at  New 
Orleans,  that  Banks  meant  to  command  in  person, 
Sherman  naturally  gave  up  all  thought  of  accompany 
ing  the  expedition,  and  went  back  to  Vicksburg  to 
get  his  troops  ready.  The  contingent  he  had  prom 
ised  to  send  from  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  he  now 
made  up  of  two  divisions  of  the  Sixteenth  Corps, 
united  under  Mower,  with  Kilby  Smith's  division  of 
the  Seventeenth  Corps,  and  the  command  of  the 
whole  he  gave  to  A.  J.  Smith. 

As  early  as  the  2d  of  March  Porter  assembled  at 


286  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

the  mouth  of  the  Red  River  a  great  fleet  of  nineteen 
ironclads,  including  fifteen  of  the  heavier  class  and 
four  of  the  lighter.  The  fleet  carried  162  guns,  of 
which  62  were  of  the  higher  calibres,  from  Sopounder 
rifles  up  to  ii-inch  Dahlgrens,  and  the  combined 
weight  of  projectiles  was  but  little  less  than  five  tons. 
On  the  loth  of  March,  A.  J.  Smith  embarked  his 
force  at  Vicksburg  on  an  admirably  organized  fleet  of 
nineteen  river  transports,  controlled  by  a  simple  sys 
tem  of  signals  from  the  flagship  Clara  Bell.  When, 
the  next  day,  Smith  joined  Porter  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Red  River,  six  days  were  still  left  until  the  time 
when  Banks  had  agreed  to  be  at  Alexandria  with  his 

o 

army.  Sherman's  orders  to  Smith  required  him  to 
make  use  of  the  interval  by  co-operating  with  the 
navy  in  an  expedition  up  the  Black  and  the  Washita, 
for  the  destruction  of  Harrisonburg,  but  Porter  had 
already  done  the  work  single-handed.  Naturally  sup 
posing  that  Banks's  troops  were  in  march  up  the 
Teche  toward  the  point  of  meeting,  although  they 
knew  that  Banks  himself  was  still  detained  at  New 
Orleans,  Smith  and  Porter  determined  at  once  to 
take  or  turn  Fort  De  Russy,  and  then  to  push  on  to 
Alexandria.  On  the  morning  of  the  i2th  of  March, 
the  combined  fleet  entered  the  Red  River.  At  the 
head  of  the  Atchafalaya,  Porter,  with  nine  of  the 
gunboats,  turned  off  to  the  left  and  descended  that 
stream  as  far  as  Simmesport,  followed  by  the  army 
transports,  while  Phelps,  with  the  East-port  and  the 
remainder  of  the  fleet,  continued  the  ascent  of  the 
Red  River,  with  a  view  of  threatening  Fort  De 
Russy,  and  occupying  the  attention  of  its  defenders 
until  Smith  could  land  and  march  across  country  to 
attack  them. 


THE  RED  RIVER.  287 

On  the  morning  of  the  i3th  of  March  Smith 
landed,  and  toward  nightfall  took  up  the  line  of 
march  for  Fort  De  Russy,  distant  by  land  twenty- 
eight  miles,  although  by  the  windings  of  the  river 
nearly  seventy.  In  his  front,  Smith  found  Scurry's 
brigade  of  Walker's  division  partly  entrenched  on 
Yellow  Bayou  ;  but  Mower  quickly  brushed  Scurry- 
aside,  and  Walker,  after  observing  the  strength  of 
his  enemy,  concentrated  on  the  Bayou  De  Glaize,  to 
avoid  being  shut  up  in  the  elbow  at  Marksville,  as 
well  as  to  get  Mouton  in  support ;  and  thus  the  way 
was  open  to  Smith.  On  the  afternoon  of  the  i4th, 
Mower  arrived  before  Fort  De  Russy,  and  just  be 
fore  nightfall  the  brigades  of  Lynch  and  Shaw  swept 
over  the  parapet  and  forced  a  surrender,  with  a  loss  of 
3  killed  and  35  wounded.  The  captures  included  25 
officers  and  292  men,  and  ten  guns,  of  which  two  were 
9-inch  Dahlgrens  from  the  spoils  of  the  Indianola 
and  the  Harriet  Lane,  once  more  restored  to  their 
first  owners. 

Phelps,  who  had  with  great  energy  burst  through  the 
formidable  raft  nine  miles  below  Fort  De  Russy,  came 
up  in  the  Eastport  in  time  to  fire  one  shot  from  his  100 
pounder  Parrott,  and  to  see  the  white  flag  displayed. 

When  this  news  reached  him,  Porter  at  once 
ordered  his  fastest  boats  to  hasten  to  Alexandria. 
The  advance  of  the  fleet  arrived  off  the  town  on  the 
1 5th  of  March,  just  as  the  last  of  the  Confederate 
boats  were  making  good  their  escape  above  the  falls. 
Kilby  Smith  with  his  division  followed  on  the  trans 
ports  with  the  remainder  of  the  fleet,  and,  landing  at 
Alexandria  during  the  afternoon  of  the  i6th,  relieved 
the  naval  detachment  sent  ashore  some  hours  earlier 
to  occupy  the  town.  On  the  i8th  of  March,  A.  J. 


288  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

Smith  marched  in  with  Mower's  two  divisions.  Thus 
the  advance  of  Porter's  fleet  was  at  Alexandria  two 
days,  and  the  head  of  A.  J.  Smith's  column  one  day, 
ahead  of  the  appointed  time. 

Walker  retreated  on  Natchitoches,  accompanied 
by  Gray's  brigade  of  Mouton's  division  from  the 
Huffpower.  Taylor,  quitting  his  headquarters  at  Al 
exandria,  called  in  Polignac's  brigade  from  the  line 
of  the  Tensas  and  concentrated  his  force  at  Carroll 
Jones's  plantation,  on  the  road  between  Opelousas  and 
Fort  Jesup,  distant  forty-six  miles  in  a  south-south 
easterly  direction  from  Natchitoches,  twelve  miles 
south  from  Cotile,  and  twenty  miles  southwesterly 
from  Alexandria.  Here  he  was  in  a  good  position 
for  receiving  supplies  and  reinforcements,  for  cover 
ing  Natchitoches,  and  for  observing  any  approach  of 
the  Union  forces  either  from  Opelousas  or  from 
Alexandria. 

Meanwhile  Banks  had  called  in  from  Texas  the 
divisions  of  Cameron  and  Ransom  of  the  Thirteenth 
Corps  and  sent  them  to  join  Franklin  on  the  lower 
Teche.  The  command  of  this  detachment  being 
given  to  Ransom,  his  division  fell  to  Landram.  Lee's 
cavalry  was  given  the  same  direction,  excepting  Fon 
da's  brigade,  which  stayed  at  Port  Hudson.  His  last 
brigade,  that  of  Dudley,  marched  from  Donaldson- 
ville  on  the  6th  of  March,  crossed  Berwick  Bay  on 
the  Qth,  and  arrived  at  the  cavalry  camp  near  Frank 
lin  on  the  loth.  Cameron's  wagons  reached  him  at 
Berwick  on  the  i2th,  and  he  marched  to  join  the  army 
in  the  field  on  the  morning  of  the  i3th.  On  the  even 
ing  of  the  same  day  Lee  led  the  advance  of  the 
army  from  the  town  of  Franklin,  but,  his  column  being 
quite  nine  miles  long,  it  was  not  until  the  following 


LOUISIANA 


SHEET   IV, 


THE  RED  RIVER.  289 

morning  that  his  rear-guard  filed  into  the  road.  On 
the  morning  of  the  I5th  of  March  he  was  followed  by 
Emory  and  Ransom.  Lee  arrived  at  Alexandria  on 
the  1 9th,  Emory  on  the  25th,  and  Ransom  on  the 
26th.  The  troops  were,  with  some  exceptions  among 
the  newly  mounted  regiments,  in  admirable  condition, 
all  were  in  fine  spirits,  and  the  long  march  of  one 
hundred  and  sixty  miles  was  well  ordered  and  well 
executed,  without  confusion,  haste,  or  delay,  so  that 
when,  with  closed  ranks  and  bands  playing,  and  with 
measured  tread  and  all  intervals  observed,  the  column 
entered  Alexandria,  the  appearance  of  the  men  drew 
exclamations  of  admiration  even  from  critics  the  least 
friendly. 

When  the  news  of  A.  J.  Smith's  and  Porter's  arri 
val  in  the  Red  River  and  of  the  capture  of  Fort  De 
Russy  reached  New  Orleans  on  the  i6th  of  March,  it 
found  Banks  himself  preparing  to  set  out  on  the  fol 
lowing  morning  to  join  Franklin  near  New  Iberia. 
He  at  once  despatched  Stone  to  Alexandria  by  the 
river,  and  following  him  on  the  23d  on  the  transport 
steamer  Black  Hawk,  arrived  at  Alexandria  on  the 
24th,  and  took  command  of  the  combined  forces  of 
Franklin  and  A.  J.  Smith. 

Grover,  as  has  been  said,  was  to  have  moved  with 
Franklin,  or  close  upon  his  heels,  but  the  7th  of 
March  had  come  before  the  first  preparatory  orders 
were  given  for  the  movement  of  Sharpe's  brigade  from 
Baton  Rouge,  and  not  until  the  loth  was  Grover  told 
to  concentrate  his  division  at  Thibodeaux.  His  route 
was  now  changed  to  the  river.  Accordingly  Sharpe's 
brigade  debarked  at  Alexandria  on  the  26th,  and  the 
Second  brigade  under  Molineux  on  the  28th,  but 

Nickerson  stayed  for  a  fortnight  longer  at  Carrollton. 
19 


2QO  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

Vincent,  who  with  the  2d  Louisiana  cavalry  had 
been  watching  and  reporting  Lee's  movement  and 
regularly  falling  back  before  his  advance,  joined 
Taylor  at  Carroll  Jones's  on  the  igth.  Then  Taylor 
sent  Vincent  with  his  regiment  and  Edgar's  battery  to 
watch  the  crossing  of  Bayou  Jean  de  Jean  and  to  hold 
the  road  by  which  Banks  was  expected  to  advance  on 
Shreveport.  Vincent  encamped  on  the  high  ground 
known  as  Henderson's  Hill,  commanding  the  junction 
of  the  Bayous  Rapides  and  Cotile  twenty-three  miles 
above  Alexandria.  Here  he  was  in  the  air,  and  A.  J. 
Smith,  realizing  the  importance  of  seizing  the  passage 
without  loss  of  time,  at  once  proceeded  to  dislodge 
him.  Accordingly,  on  the  2ist  of  March  he  sent  out 
Mower  with  his  two  divisions  of  the  Sixteenth  Corps 
and  Lucas's  brigade  of  cavalry.  Mower  made  his 
dispositions  with  great  skill  and  promptness,  and  that 
night,  during  a  heavy  storm  of  rain  and  hail,  com 
pletely  surprised  Vincent's  camp  and  captured  the 
whole  regiment  bodily,  together  with  four  guns  of 
Edgar's  battery.  A  few  of  Vincent's  men  managed  to 
escape  in  the  darkness  and  confusion,  but  about  250 
were  brought  in  and  with  them  200  horses.  This  was 
.a  heavy  blow  to  Taylor,  since  it  deprived  him  of  the 
only  cavalry  he  had  with  him  and  thus  of  the  means 
of  scouting  until  Green  should  come  from  Texas. 
Mower  returned  to  Alexandria  on  the  22d,  and  Taylor, 
probably  unwilling  to  risk  a  surprise  in  his  exposed 
position,  withdrew  about, thirty  miles  to  Kisatchie,  still 
covering  the  Fort  Jesup  road  ;  but  a  week  later  he 
sent  his  cavalry  northward  twenty-six  miles  to  Natchi- 
toches  and  with  his  infantry  retired  to  Pleasant  Hill. 

Banks  has  been  blamed  for  his  delay  in  meeting 
A.  J.  Smith  and  Porter  at  Alexandria,  yet,  whatever 


THE  RED  RIVER.  291 

may  be  the  theoretical  merits  of  such  a  criticism,  in 
fact  no  loss  of  time  that  occurred  up  to  the  moment 
of  quitting  Alexandria  had  the  least  influence  on  the 
course  of  the  campaign,  for  even  after  the  concentra 
tion  was  completed  the  river,  though  very  slowly 
rising  by  inches,  was  still  so  low  that  the  gunboats 
were  unable  to  pass  the  rapids.  The  Eastport  hung 
nearly  three  days  on  the  rocks  in  imminent  peril, 
and  at  last  had  to  be  hauled  off  by  main  force,  a 
whole  brigade  swaying  on  her  hawsers  to  the  rhythm 
of  the  field  music.  This  was  on  the  26th  of  March, 
and  the  Eastport  was  the  first  of  the  gunboats  to  pass 
the  rapids,  the  Admiral  being  naturally  unwilling  to 
expose  the  boats  of  lighter  draught  as  well  as  of 
lighter  armament  to  the  risk  of  capture  if  sent  up 
alone.  The  hospital  steamer  Woodford,  which  was 
the  first  boat  to  follow  the  Eastport,  was  wrecked 
in  the  attempt.  The  next  five  boats  took  three  days 
to  pass,  nor  was  it  until  the  3d  of  April  that  the 
last  of  the  twelve  gunboats  and  thirty  transports, 
selected  to  accompany  the  expedition  to  Shreveport, 
floated  in  safety  above  the  obstructions.  Seve 
ral  of  the  transports  drew  too  much  water  to 
permit  them  to  pass  the  rapids ;  these,  therefore, 
stayed  below,  and  with  them  the  remaining  seven 
gunboats. 

And  now  occurred  the  first  important  departure 
from  the  original  plan  of  operations.  The  season  of 
high  water  had  been  looked  forward  to  as  insuring 
constant  communication  along  the  whole  length  of 
the  Red  River  as  far  as  the  fleet  should  be  able  to 
ascend.  But  the  Red  is  a  treacherous  river  at  best, 
and  this  year  it  was  at  its  worst.  There  was  to  be  no 
March  rise  worth  speaking  about.  Thus  the  rapids 


292  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

presented  an  obstacle,  impassable,  or  only  to  be 
passed  with  difficulty ;  the  bare  rocks  divided  the  fleet 
in  twain,  the  only  communication  was  overland  by 
the  road  around  the  falls.  The  supplies  had  to  be 
landed  at  Alexandria,  loaded  into  wagons,  hauled 
around,  and  re-shipped,  and  this  made  it  necessary 
to  establish  depots  in  the  town  as  well  as  above  the 
falls,  and  to  leave  behind  Grover's  division,  4,000 
strong,  to  protect  the  stores  and  the  carry.  At  the 
same  time  McPherson  recalled  Ellet's  marine  bri 
gade  to  Vicksburg,  and  thus  the  expedition  lost  a 
second  detachment  of  3,000  men  ;  but  this  loss  was 
partly  made  up  by  Dickey's  brigade  of  colored 
troops,  1,500  strong,  which  joined  the  column  from 
the  garrison  of  Port  Hudson.  Withal  the  force  was 
ample,  for  at  the  end  of  March  there  were  31,000 
officers  and  men  for  duty,  including  about  4,800  un 
der  Ransom,  6,600  under  Emory,  9,000  under  A.  J. 
Smith,  and  Lee's  cavalry,  4,600.  Here  was  a  superb 
fighting  column  of  25,000  officers  and  men  of  all 
arms,  with  ninety  guns.  This  more  than  met  the 
calculations  of  Banks  and  Sherman  on  which  the 
campaign  was  undertaken.  In  the  three  columns 
there  were  to  be  40,000  men  ;  of  these,  Sherman  was 
to  furnish  10,000,  Banks  15,000,  and  Steele  15,000. 

Steele  had  already  sent  word  that  he  could  not  be 
counted  upon  for  more  than  7,000,  all  told.  He  had 
expected  to  march  from  Little  Rock  by  the  i4th  of 
March  on  Arkadelphia,  there  to  be  joined  by  Thayer 
moving  at  the  same  time  from  Fort  Smith.  Thayer 
marched  on  the  2ist  with  4,000  effectives  and  14 
guns,  Steele  on  the  23d  with  7,500  effectives  and 
1 6  guns;  besides  these,  he  left  Clayton  with  1,600 
men  and  1 1  guns  to  hold  Pine  Bluff. 


THE  RED  RIVER.  293 

We  have  seen  how,  in  one  movement,  three  di 
vergent  ideas  were  being  carried  out  without  either 
having  been  distinctly  decided  on :  a  foothold  in 
Texas,  an  overland  occupation  in  force,  and  a  swift 
raid  by  the  river.  To  these  there  was  now  to  be 
added  a  fourth  idea,  in  itself  sound,  yet  fatally  incon 
sistent  with  the  others. 

On  the  27th  of  March,  before  setting  out  from 
Alexandria,  Banks  received,  by  special  messenger,  the 
orders  of  Lieutenant-General  Grant,  dated  the  i5th 
of  March,  on  taking  command  of  the  armies  of  the 
United  States.  For  the  first  time  during  the  war,  all 
the  armies  were  to  move  as  one,  with  a  single  purpose, 
ruled  by  a  single  will ;  along  the  whole  line,  from  the 
Mississippi  to  the  Atlantic,  a  combined  movement 
was  to  take  place  early  in  May,  and  in  this  the  entire 
effective  force  of  the  Department  of  the  Gulf  was 
to  take  part.  A.  J.  Smith  was  to  join  the  Army  of 
the  Tennessee  for  the  Atlanta  campaign,  and  Banks 
was  to  go  against  Mobile.  Sherman  had  lent  A.  J. 
Smith  to  Banks  for  thirty  days.  This  limit  Grant 
was  willing  to  extend  by  ten  or  fifteen  days,  but  if 
Shreveport  were  not  to  be  taken  by  that  time — that 
is,  by  the  25th  of  April  at  the  very  latest, — then  Banks 
was  to  send  A.  J.  Smith's  detachment  back  to  Vicks- 
burg  in  season  to  arrive  there  at  the  date  originally 
named — that  is,  by  the  loth  of  April, — even  if  this 
should  lead  to  the  abandonment  of  the  expedition. 
The  orders  for  the  expedition  given  by  Halleck, 
while  occupying  nominally  the  supreme  command 
that  had  now  in  truth  fallen  into  the  strong  hand 
of  Grant,  were  not  revoked;  the  expedition  was  to 
go  on  ;  only,  to  make  sure  that  it  should  not  be  gone 
too  long,  it  was  to  be  put  in  irons. 


294  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

Grant  may  easily  be  excused  if,  while  as  yet  hardly 
warm  in  the  saddle,  he  hesitated  to  revoke  orders 
that  he  must  have  known  to  be  those  of  the  President 
himself  ;  yet,  since  a  door  must  be  either  open  or  shut, 
it  would  have  been  far  better  to  revoke  the  orders 
than  to  trammel  their  execution  with  conditions  so 
hard  that  Banks  might  well  have  thrown  up  the 
campaign  then  and  there.  However,  Banks  on  his 
part  had  good  reason  to  know  the  wishes  of  the  gov 
ernment  and  not  less  the  consequences  of  disregard 
ing  them  ;  moreover,  as  the  case  must  have  presented 
itself  to  him,  there  was  an  off  chance  that  Kirby 
Smith  might  not  be  able  concentrate  in  time  to  save 
Shreveport ;  another,  still  more  remote,  that  he  might 
give  up  the  place  without  a  fight  ;  and  a  third,  more 
unlikely  than  either,  that  Steele  might  join  Banks  in 
time  to  make  short  work  of  it,  or  at  all  events  to 
make  Banks  strong  enough  to  spare  A.  J.  Smith  by 
the  appointed  time.  Two  weeks  remained  until  the 
earliest  date  set  for  A.  J.  Smith  to  be  at  Vicksburg; 
twenty-nine  days  to  the  latest  day  allowed  for  the  tak 
ing  of  Shreveport.  In  his  dilemma  Banks  decided  to 
run  these  chances. 

After  seeing  the  first  of  the  gunboats  safely  over 
the  falls,  on  the  26th  of  March  Banks  set  his  column 
in  motion.  A.  J.  Smith  marched  on  Cotile  Landing 
to  wait  for  his  boats.  On  the  28th  Lee,  with  the  main 
body  of  the  cavalry,  preceded  Smith  to  Henderson's 
Hill,  in  order  to  hold  the  road  and  the  crossing  of  Bayou 
Jean  de  Jean.  Franklin  with  Emory  and  Ransom  and 
the  main  supply  trains  followed  on  the  same  day. 

Twenty  miles  above  Cotile  Landing  the  Red  River 
divides,  and  for  sixty  miles,  until  Grand  Ecore  is 
reached,  its  waters  flow  in  two  unequal  channels ;  the 


THE  RED  RIVER.  295 

most  southerly  of  these,  along  which  the  road  runs,  is 
known  as  Cane  River,  or  Old  Red  River.  This  was 
formerly  the  main  stream,  but  the  more  northerly 
branch,  at  once  deeper  and  less  tortuous,  now  forms 
the  only  navigable  channel,  and  is  called  the  Rigolets 
du  Bon  Dieu,  or  more  familiarly  the  Bon  Dieu. 

Lee  crossed  Cane  River  at  Monett's  Ferry,  and, 
recrossing  above  Cloutierville,  entered  Natchitoches 
on  the  3ist  of  March.  At  Monett's  Ferry  on  the 
29th,  Cloutierville  on  the  3Oth,  and  again  at  Natchi 
toches  he  encountered  slight  opposition  from  the 
enemy's  skirmishers. 

Franklin,  marching  by  the  same  road,  encamped  at 
Natchitoches  on  the  2d  of  April. 

Embarking  on  his  transports  as  they  came,  A.  J. 
Smith  set  out  from  Cotile  Landing  on  the  2d  of 
April  in  company  with  Porter's  fleet,  and  landed  at 
Grand  Ecore  on  the  3d. 

The  river  was  still  rising  slowly,  and  it  was  not 
until  the  7th  of  April  that  Porter  considered  the 
draught  of  water  sufficient  to  justify  him  in  going 
farther.  Then,  leaving  at  Grand  Ecore  the  six  heavy 
boats  that  had  come  with  him  thus  far,  he  began 
the  ascent  of  the  upper  reach  of  the  river  with  the 
Carondelet,  Fort  Hindman,  Lexington,  Osage,  Neosho, 
and  Chillicothe,  convoying  and  closely  followed  by  a 
fleet  of  twenty  transports,  bearing  Kilby  Smith's 
division  and  a  large  quantity  of  military  stores  of  all 
kinds.  Porter  expected  to  be  at  Springfield  Landing, 
no  miles  above  Grand  Ecore,  on  the  9th.  On  ar 
riving  there,  Kilby  Smith  was  to  reconnoitre  towards 
Springfield,  and  if  practicable,  to  send  a  regiment  to 
seize  the  bridge  across  the  Bayou  Pierre  in  the  direc 
tion  of  Mansfield. 


296  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

On  the  6th  of  April,  as  soon  as  the  movement  of 
the  fleet  was  decided  on,  Banks  resumed  the  march 
on  Shreveport.  Shortly  after  leaving  Natchitoches 
the  main  road,  with  which  the  road  from  Grand  Ecore 
unites,  strikes  off  from  the  river  toward  the  west 
to  avoid  Spanish  Lake,  and,  traversing  a  barren 
wilderness,  affords  neither  position  nor  resting-place 
until  Shreveport  is  reached.  Banks  meant  to  be  at 
Mansfield,  holding  the  roads  that  there  converge, 
simultaneously  with  the  arrival  of  the  fleet  at  Spring 
field  Landing.  Lee,  who  was  encamped  at  Natchi 
toches  with  the  brigades  of  Lucas,  Robinson,  and 
Dudley,  led  the  advance,  and  marching  twenty-three 
miles  encamped  that  night  at  Crump's  Corner.  Ran 
som  broke  camp  at  Natchitoches  at  six  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  and  marched  sixteen  miles.  Emory  fol 
lowed  closely  upon  Ransom.  A.  J.  Smith  remained 
at  Grand  Ecore  till  the  next  day,  to  await  the  de 
parture  of  the  fleet,  and  then  marching  eight  miles 
on  the  Shreveport  road  fell  into  the  rear  of  the 
column.  Dickey's  colored  brigade  formed  the  guard 
of  the  main  wagon  train,  and  Gooding's  brigade  of 
cavalry  covered  the  rear  and  left  flank.  From  this 
time  Lee's  movements  were  to  be  directed  by 
Franklin. 

Meanwhile,  between  the  3d  and  5th  of  April,  Tay 
lor,  after  consuming  the  forage  for  twenty  miles 
around  Pleasant  Hill,  had  withdrawn  his  infantry  to 
Mansfield.  Green's  cavalry,  long  expected,  was  now 
beginning  to  come  in,  largely  augmented,  from  Texas, 
whither  it  had  been  hastily  sent,  early  in  the  winter, 
to  meet  the  threatened  invasion  from  the  coast. 

On  the  morning  of  the  7th  of  April,  Lee  advanced 
on  Pleasant  Hill,  Robinson  leading,  supported  by 


THE  RED  RIVER.  297 

Lucas.  Robinson  easily  drove  before  him  the  ad 
vance  guard  of  the  Confederate  cavalry  until  about 
two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  at  Wilson's  farm,  three 
miles  beyond  Pleasant  Hill,  he  came  upon  the  main 
body  of  Green's  force,  comprising  Major's  brigade, 
under  Lane,  posted  in  the  skirt  of  the  wood,  on  rising 
ground,  behind  a  clearing.  Robinson  dismounted  his 
men  and  engaged  the  enemy,  who  resisted  so  firmly 
that  Lucas  was  sent  to  Robinson's  support  just  in 
time  to  save  him  from  being  driven  off  the  field  by  a 
determined  charge.  Lucas  likewise  dismounted  his 
men,  and  the  two  brigades,  charging  together  afoot, 
drove  the  Confederates  from  their  position,  and  pur 
sued  them  to  Carroll's  saw-mill,  on  the  southerly 
branch  of  Bayou  St.  Patrice,  about  seven  miles  be 
yond  Pleasant  Hill,  where,  toward  nightfall,  they 
made  a  strong  stand.  In  this  action,  Lee  took  23 
prisoners,  and  suffered  a  loss  of  1 1  killed,  42  wounded, 
and  9  missing. 

Ransom  marched  at  half-past  five  in  the  morning, 
and  at  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  the  head  of  his 
column  was  at  Pleasant  Hill,  nineteen  miles  distant, 
where  he  went  into  camp,  having  overtaken  the  cavalry 
train  during  the  march,  and  Dudley's  brigade  at  the 
close.  Emory,  closely  following  Ransom,  arrived  at 
Pleasant  Hill  about  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  and 
went  into  carnp.  The  last  of  the  infantry  and  all  the 
wagons  were  much  retarded  by  a  heavy  storm  that 
broke  over  the  rear  of  the  column  and  cut  up  the 
road  badly.  The  night  was  far  spent  when  Ransom's 
train  joined  him,  and  Emory's,  in  spite  of  every  exer 
tion,  could  not  be  brought  up  until  late  on  the  follow 
ing  morning.  A.  J.  Smith  was  now  a  good  day's 
march  behind  Ransom  and  Emory. 


298  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

When  Lee  found  himself  so  obstinately  opposed, 
and  so  hindered  by  these  dilatory  tactics,  he  sent  a 
message  to  Franklin,  through  Banks's  senior  aide-de 
camp,  who  had  been  riding  with  the  advance,  asking 
that  a  brigade  of  infantry  might  be  sent  forward  to 
his  assistance.  Lee's  view  was  that  the  infantry,  ad 
vancing  in  skirmish  order,  could  make  better  progress 
than  the  cavalry,  which,  in  a  country  so  thickly 
wooded,  found  itself  reduced  to  the  same  tactics, 
with  the  added  drawback  that  as  often  as  they  dis 
lodged  the  enemy  they  had  to  run  back  after  their 
horses  before  they  could  follow.  Franklin  declined 
to  accede  to  this  request  without  orders,  justly  re 
flecting  that  infantry  thus  advanced  at  night,  after  a 
hard  day's  march,  must  be  worn  out  in  the  attempt  to 
keep  touch  with  the  cavalry,  while,  in  the  history  of 
these  mixed  forces,  the  instances  are  rare  indeed  in 
which  the  mounted  men  have  not,  after  bringing  on 
the  action,  left  it,  as  the  proper  thing,  for  the  infantry 
to  finish.  However,  later  in  the  evening  Banks 
joined  Franklin,  and  an  hour  or  two  before  midnight 
ordered  him  to  send  a  brigade  to  Lee,  to  report  to 
him  at  dawn.  Upon  this  Franklin  directed  Ransom 
to  send  either  a  brigade  or  a  division,  at  his  discre 
tion,  and  Ransom,  in  his  turn,  ordered  Landram  to 
take  Emerson's  brigade  of  his  division  and  join  the 
cavalry  for  the  service  indicated. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 
SABINE   CROSS-ROADS. 

LANDRAM  accordingly  marched  at  three  o'clock 
on  the  morning  of  the  8th  of  April,  and  reported  to 
Lee  about  five. 

Soon  after  sunrise  Lee  moved  forward  against  the 
enemy,  Lucas  leading,  with  one  regiment  of  his 
brigade  dismounted  and  deployed  as  skirmishers, 
supported  by  two  regiments  of  Landram's  infantry, 
in  line  of  battle.  Green's  men  still  adhering  to  the 
obstructive  policy  of  the  day  before,  after  a  time  the 
two  remaining  regiments  of  Emerson's  brigade  were 
deployed  and  required  to  drive  the  enemy  more 
rapidly,  while  the  cavalry  covered  the  flanks.  About 
one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  when  half  the  distance 
that  separated  Mansfield  from  his  camp  of  the  night 
before  had  been  accomplished,  Lee  found  himself 
at  the  edge  of  a  large  clearing  on  the  slope  of  a  hill, 
with  the  Confederates  in  force  in  his  front  and  on  his 
right  flank. 

Ransom  marched  from  Pleasant  Hill  at  half-past 
five,  and  at  half-past  ten  was  ten  miles  distant  on  the 
northerly  branch  of  the  Bayou  St.  Patrice,  designated 
as  his  camp  for  the  day.  He  was  just  going  into 
bivouac  when,  on  a  request  from  Lee  for  a  fresh  force 
of  infantry  to  relieve  the  exhausted  men  of  Emerson's 
brigade,  Franklin  directed  Ransom  to  go  forward 

299 


300  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

himself  with  Vance's  brigade,  and  thus  to  make  sure 
of  Emerson's  return. 

Franklin's  arrangements  for  the  day's  march  of  his 
command,  as  well  as  Banks's  for  the  whole  force,  con 
templated  a  short  march  for  the  head  of  the  column 
and  a  longer  one  for  the  rear,  so  that  at  a  compara 
tively  early  hour  in  the  day  the  army  would  be  closed 
up,  ready  to  encounter  the  enemy  in  good  order. 
Accordingly,  shortly  before  three  o'clock  in  the  after 
noon,  Emory  went  into  camp  on  the  banks  of  the 
south  branch  of  the  St.  Patrice,  within  easy  support 
ing  distance  of  Ransom,  while  A.  J.  Smith  continued 
his  march,  until  at  night,  having  accomplished 
twenty-one  miles,  he  went  into  bivouac  about  two 
miles  before  reaching  Pleasant  Hill. 

At  last  nearly  the  whole  of  Green's  cavalry  corps 
had  joined  Taylor,  and  at  the  same  time  two  divisions 
of  Price's  army  had  come  in  from  Arkansas  and  taken 
post  in  supporting  distance  of  Taylor  at  Keachie, 
which  is  about  half-way  between  Mansfield  and 
Shreveport,  or  about  twenty  miles  from  either. 
With  his  own  force,  under  Walker  and  Mouton, 
Green's  Texans,  Churchill's  Arkansas  division,  and 
Parsons's  Missouri  division,  Taylor  now  had  at  least 
sixteen  thousand  good  men,  with  whom,  if  permitted, 
he  might  give  battle  in  a  chosen  position,  while 
Banks's  force  was  stretched  out  the  length  of  a  long 
day's  march  on  a  single  narrow  road  in  a  dense  pine 
forest,  with  no  elbow-room  save  such  as  was  to  be 
found  in  the  narrow  and  infrequent  clearings.  In 
such  a  region  excess  of  numbers  was  a  hindrance 
rather  than  a  help,  and  cavalry  was  worse  than  useless 
for  offence.  Banks  was,  moreover,  encumbered  by 
twelve  miles  of  wagons  bearing  all  his  ammunition 


SABINE  CROSS-ROADS.  301 

and  stores,  and  was  weakened  by  the  necessity  of 
guarding  this  long  train  through  the  barren  wilder 
ness  deep  in  the  heart  of  the  enemy's  country.  Of 
these  conditions  Kirby  Smith  was  planning  to  take 
advantage,  and  it  was  to  guard  against  such  an  enter 
prise  that  Banks's  column  was  closing  up  in  readiness 
to  meet  the  enemy  with  its  full  strength,  when  sud 
denly  on  both  sides  events  took  the  bit  in  their  teeth 
and  precipitated  a  battle  that  was  in  the  plans  of 
neither. 

It  was  about  eleven  o'clock  when  Ransom  set  out 
to  go  to  the  front  with  Vance's  brigade.  The 
distance  to  be  passed  over  was  about  five  and  a 
half  miles.  Riding  ahead,  Ransom  himself  arrived 
on  the  field  about  half-past  one  in  the  after 
noon.  At  this  time,  by  Lee's  orders,  Landram  had 
pushed  forward  the  iQth  Kentucky,  deployed  as  skir 
mishers,  and  supporting  it  strongly  with  the  rest  of 
Emerson's  brigade,  had  driven  Green's  troopers 
across  the  open  ground,  over  the  hill,  and  well  into 
the  woods  beyond,  and  had  taken  position  on  the 
crest.  Here  he  was  joined  by  Nims,  who  brought 
his  guns  into  battery  across  the  road.  On  the  left 
of  Nims  were  placed  two  of  Rottaken's  howitzers, 
detached  from  the  6th  Missouri  cavalry.  On  the 
right  and  left  of  the  horse  artillery  Emerson  formed, 
and  Vance,  as  soon  as  he  came  up,  took  position  on 
Emerson's  right,  but  as  Banks  undertook  to  hasten 
the  movement  through  the  direct  action  of  his  own 
staff-officers,  it  resulted  that  the  regiments  of  the 
two  brigades  were  sandwiched.  Lucas,  dismounted, 
extended  the  line  of  battle  to  the  right.  With  him 
were  a  section  of  Rawles's  battery  and  another  of 
Rottaken's. 


302  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

To  cover  the  flanks  in  the  forest  Dudley  deployed 
as  skirmishers  the  8th  New  Hampshire  on  the  right, 
and  on  the  left  the  3d  and  the  3ist  Massachusetts, 
supported  by  the  26.  Illinois.  Robinson  was  with  the 
cavalry  train,  which  was  rather  closely  following  the 
march  of  its  division,  in  order  to  clear  the  head  of 
the  infantry  without  starving  the  cavalry. 

Neither  side  could  move  forward  without  bringing 
on  a  battle.  But  Lee,  instead  of  being  able  and  ready 
to  disengage  his  cavalry  advance-guard  and  to  fall  back 
to  a  chosen  field,  was  now  anchored  to  the  ground 
where  he  found  himself,  not  alone  by  the  concentra 
tion  of  the  main  body  of  the  cavalry  at  the  very  front, 
but  also  and  even  more  firmly  by  the  presence  of  the 
infantry  with  its  artillery  and  their  employment,  natu 
rally  enough,  to  form  the  centre  of  his  main  line. 

The  clearing,  the  largest  yet  seen  by  the  Union 
Army  since  entering  the  interminable  wilderness  of 
pines,  was  barely  half  a  mile  in  width  ;  across  the 
road  it  stretched  for  about  three  quarters  of  a  mile, 
and  down  the  middle  it  was  divided  by  a  ravine. 

Directly  in  front  of  Banks  stood  Taylor  in  order 
of  battle,  covering  the  crossing  of  the  ways  that  lead 
to  Pleasant  Hill,  to  Shreveport,  to  Bayou  Pierre, 
and  to  the  Sabine.  On  his  right  was  the  cavalry  of 
Bee,  then  Walker's  infantry  astride  of  the  main  road, 
and  on  Walker's  left  Mouton,  supported  on  his  left  by 
the  cavalry  brigades  of  Major  and  Bagby,  dismounted. 
To  this  position,  well  selected,  Taylor  had  advanced 
from  Mansfield  early  in  the  morning,  with  the  clear 
intention  of  offering  battle,  and,  regardless  of  Kirby 
Smith's  purpose  of  concentrating  nearer  Shreveport, 
had  sent  back  orders  for  Churchill  and  Parsons  to 
come  forward.  They  marched'  early,  and  were  by 


SABINE  CROSS-ROADS.  303 

this  time  well  on  the  way,  but  a  distance  of  twenty- 
five  miles  separated  their  camp  of  the  night  before 
from  the  field  of  the  approaching  combat. 

As  on  the  previous  day's  march,  Stone  had  been 
with  Lee's  advance  since  the  early  morning,  without, 
however,  being  charged  with  the  views  of  his  chief 
and  without  attempting  to  issue  orders  in  his  name ; 
but  now  Banks  himself  rode  to  the  extreme  front,  as 
his  habit  was.  Arriving  on  the  ground  not  long  after 
Ransom,  and  seeing  the  enemy  before  him  in  force, 
Banks  at  once  ordered  Lee  to  hold  his  ground  and 
sent  back  orders  to  Franklin  to  bring  forward  the 
column.  The  skirmishing  that  had  been  going  on 
all  the  morning,  as  an  incident  of  the  advance  and 
retreat  of  the  opposing  forces,  had  become  the  sharp 
prelude  of  battle,  and  through  the  openings  of  the 
forest  the  enemy  could  be  seen  in  continuous  move 
ment  toward  his  left.  This  was  Major  and  Mouton 
feeling  their  way  to  the  Union  right,  beyond  which 
and  diagonally  across  the  front  ran  the  road  that 
leads  from  Mansfield  to  Bayou  Pierre. 

Whether  Taylor,  as  he  says,  now  became  impatient 
at  the  delay  and  ordered  Mouton  to  open  the  attack, 
or  whether,  as  others  have  asserted,  Mouton  attacked 
without  the  knowledge  or  orders  of  Taylor,  is  not 
quite  clear,  nor  is  it  here  material.  About  four 
o'clock,  when  the  two  lines  had  looked  at  each  other 
for  two  hours  or  more,  Taylor  suddenly  delivered  his 
attack  by  a  vigorous  charge  of  Mouton's  division  on 
the  east  of  the  road.  Ransom's  infantry  on  the  field 
numbered  about  2,400  officers  and  men  ;  including 
Lucas,  Banks's  fighting  line  fell  below  3,500,  and  the 
whole  force  he  had  at  hand  was  not  above  5,000 
strong.  Against  this,  Taylor  was  now  advancing 


304  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

with  nearly  10,000.  It  was  therefore  inevitable  that 
on  both  flanks  his  line  must  widely  overlap  that  of 
Banks  as  soon  as  the  two  should  meet. 

When  Ransom  perceived  Mouton's  movement,  he 
threw  forward  his  right  to  meet  it  with  such  spirit 
that  Mouton's  first  line  was  driven  back  in  con 
fusion  upon  his  second  ;  then  rallying  and  returning 
to  the  charge,  Mouton's  men  halted,  lay  down,  and 
began  firing  at  about  two  hundred  yards'  range.  The 
two  batteries  of  Landram's  division,  Cone's  Chicago 
Mercantile,  and  Klauss's  ist  Indiana,  now  came  on  the 
field,  and  were  posted  by  Ransom  on  the  ridge  near 
the  centre,  to  oppose  the  enemy's  advance  on  the  left, 
before  which  Dudley's  men  were  already  falling  back. 
Bee  and  Walker  had  in  fact  turned  the  whole  left 
flank,  and  were  rapidly  moving  on,  breaking  in  the 
line  as  they  advanced.  This  soon  left  Nims's  guns 
without  support,  and  at  the  same  time  Klauss  and 
Cone  came  under  a  fire  so  severe  from  Walker's  men, 
that  Ransom  determined  to  withdraw  to  the  cover  of 
the  wood  in  his  rear  at  the  edge  of  the  clearing. 
Unfortunately,  Captain  Dickey,  his  assistant  adju 
tant-general,  fell  mortally  wounded  in  the  act  of  com 
municating  these  orders,  and  thus  some  of  the  regi 
ments  farther  toward  the  right,  being  without  orders, 
and  fighting  stubbornly  against  great  odds,  stood  their 
ground  until  they  were  completely  surrounded  and 
taken  prisoners.  While  aiding  Landram  to  rally  and 
reform  the  remnants  of  his  division  in  the  skirt  of 
timber,  Ransom  was  severely  wounded  in  the  knee, 
and  had  to  be  carried  off  the  field.  Vance  and  Em 
erson  were  wounded  and  taken  prisoners,  each  at  the 
head  of  his  brigade. 

Meanwhile,  shortly  after  three  o'clock,  at  his  quar- 


SABINE  CROSS-ROADS.  305 

ters,  near  Ransom's  camp  of  the  forenoon,  Franklin 
received  his  first  suggestion  of  an  impending  battle, 
in  Banks's  order  to  bring  all  the  infantry  to  the  front. 
First  sending  back  word  to  Emory,  Franklin  set  out 
at  once  and  rode  forward  rapidly,  followed  by  Cam 
eron's  division.  When,  some  time  after  four  o'clock, 
he  entered  the  clearing  and  galloped  to  the  hill  where 
the  guns  of  Nims  still  stood  grimly  defiant  and  Ran 
som's  men  were  still  desperately  struggling  to  hold 
their  first  ground,  the  situation  was  already  hopeless. 
Hardly  had  he  arrived  on  the  ground,  than,  by  a 
single  volley  from  Walker's  advancing  lines,  Frank 
lin's  horse  was  killed,  and  he  himself  and  Captains 
Chapman  and  Pigman  of  his  staff  were  wounded. 

Cameron  came  up  just  as  Landram  was  striving 
hard  to  rally  his  men  and  to  hold  a  second  position  in 
the  lower  skirt  of  the  wood,  to  prevent  the  enemy 
from  coming  on  across  the  clearing  ;  but  for  this, 
time  and  numbers  and  elbow-room  were  alike 
wanting.  Moreover,  every  moment  the  Confederate 
troopers  must  be  gaining  on  the  flanks.  Nor  was 
Cameron's  handful,  barely  1,300,  enough  to  enable 
the  remnant  of  the  Thirteenth  Corps  to  hold  for 
many  minutes  so  weak  a  position  against  such  odds. 
Cameron  deployed  his  four  battalions  and  tried  hard, 
but  the  whole  line  soon  crumbled  and  fell  apart  to 
the  rear. 

Until  this  moment,  Banks  and  Franklin,  as  well  as 
every  officer  of  the  staff  of  either,  beginning  with 
Stone,  had  exerted  themselves  to  the  utmost  to  sec 
ond  the  efforts  of  Ransom  and  of  Landram  to  save 
the  day.  The  retreat  once  fairly  begun,  all  attempt 
to  stay  its  course  was  for  a  time  given  up  as  idle,  for 
every  man  knew  just  how  far  back  he  must  go  to  find 


20 


3o6  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

room  to  form  a  line  of  battle  longer  than  the  road  was 
narrow.  Green's  cavalry  having  been  for  the  most 
part  dismounted  and  on  the  flanks,  as  well  as  in  the 
forest,  the  pursuit  was  not  very  vigorous  and  was 
now  and  then  retarded  by  the  successive  covering 
lines  of  Lucas  and  of  Dudley,  so  that  the  prospect 
seemed  fair  of  bringing  off  the  remnants  of  the  fight 
ing  force  without  much  more  loss,  when  about  a  mile 
behind  the  battle-field,  at  the  foot  of  a  slight  descent, 
the  retreating  column  came  upon  a  knot  of  wagons 
inextricably  tangled  and  stuck  fast  in  a  slough.  This 
was  the  great  cavalry  train  trying  to  escape.  In 
stantly  what  had  been  a  severe  check  became  a  seri 
ous  disaster.  Already,  by  holding  so  stiffly  to  his 
first  position,  in  the  front  line,  in  the  road,  Nims  had 
lost  more  than  half  his  horses,  and  thus  in  quitting 
the  field  he  found  himself  compelled  to  abandon 
three  of  his  guns  ;  yet  not  until  he  had  inflicted  vast 
injuries  upon  his  enemy,  and  to  the  last  furnished 
a  noble  example  of  coolness  in  the  performance  of 
duty  and  the  highest  courage  in  the  hour  of  trial. 
Now  the  remnant  of  this  fine  battery  was  swallowed 
up  in  the  wreck  of  wagons,  and  scon  fourteen  more 
guns  went  to  swell  the  ruin.  Thus  Rawles  and 
Rottaken  lost  each  a  section,  Cone  and  Klauss  their 
whole  batteries.  In  all  twenty  guns  were  lost  ;  three 
on  the  field  and  seventeen  at  the  jam.  With  them 
went  175  wagons,  n  ambulances,  and  1,001  draught 
animals.  To  pass  the  obstruction  the  infantry  had 
to  turn  widely  out  of  the  road  and  for  a  long  distance 
push  their  way  through  the  woods.  No  semblance 
of  order  survived.  After  this  there  was  only  one 
mass  of  men,  wagons,  and  horses  crowding  to  the 
rear. 


SABINE  CROSS-ROADS.  307 

How  little  expectation  there  had  been  of  fighting 
a  battle  that  day,  especially  on  the  line  where  the 
extreme  outposts  chanced  to  be,  and  how  suddenly 
all  was  changed,  is  aptly  shown  by  what  was  hap 
pening  in  Emory's  camp  when,  at  a  quarter  before 
four  o'clock,  he  received  Franklin's  order  to  go  to 
the  front.  The  wagons  of  the  Thirteenth  Corps  were 
in  the  road  in  the  act  of  passing  the  lines  of  the  Nine 
teenth  Corps  on  the  way  to  join  their  proper  com 
mand.  Emory's  wagons  had  been  with  him  for  some 
little  time  and  several  of  the  quartermasters  were 
even  engaged  in  issuing  clothing  when  the  summons 
came.  There  had  been  no  heavy  firing  as  yet,  such 
as  indicates  a  battle,  and  the  exact  degree  of  urgency 
may  be  best  represented  by  saying  that  the  marching 
orders  were  delivered  to  Emory  in  writing  by  a 
mounted  orderly  and  were  in  these  words  :  "  Move 
your  infantry  immediately  to  the  front,  leaving  one 
regiment  as  guard  to  your  batteries  and  train.  If 
your  train  has  got  up,  you  will  take  two  days'  rations 
and  the  cooking  utensils."  The  language  of  this 
order,  which  may  fairly  be  taken  as  an  authentic 
reflection  of  the  oral  message  from  Banks,  on  which 
it  was  directly  based,  would  have  justified  Emory  in 
taking  an  hour  or  more  for  the  issue  of  the  rations ; 
but  Emory,  whose  nature  it  was  to  forecast  danger, 
had  from  the  first  hour  of  the  campaign  been  appre 
hensive  of  some  sudden  attack  that  should  find 
the  army  unprepared  ;  and  thus  it  was  that,  merely 
stopping  to  take  a  double  ration  of  hard  bread,  twelve 
minutes  later  the  head  of  his  column  filed  into  the 
road  and  marched  to  the  front.  At  this  hour  the 
battle  was  just  beginning,  and  the  first  sounds,  rolling 
to  the  rear,  served  to  quicken  the  march  of  Emory's 


308  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

men.  About  a  quarter  before  five  he  was  met  by  an 
aide-de-camp  with  orders  to  hasten,  coupled  with  the 
first  direct  information  that  an  engagement  was  in 
progress.  A  mile  farther  on  an  ambulance  was  met 
bearing  Ransom  to  the  rear.  Emory  exchanged  a 
few  words  with  the  wounded  officer,  and  then  ordered 
his  division  to  take  the  double-quick.  A  mile  beyond, 
the  usual  rabble  of  camp  followers  and  stragglers  was 
encountered,  and  soon  the  road  was  filled  with  the 
swollen  stream  of  fugitives,  crying  that  the  day  was 
lost. 

And  now  from  Emory  down  to  the  smallest  drum 
mer-boy  every  man  saw  that  the  hour  had  come 
to  show  what  the  First  division  was  made  of.  The 
leading  regiments  and  flankers  instantly  fixed  bayo 
nets  ;  the  staff-officers  drew  their  swords ;  hardly  a 
man  fell  out,  but  at  a  steady  and  even  quickened  pace, 
Emory's  men  forced  their  way  through  the  confused 
mass  in  the  eager  endeavor  to  reach  a  position  where 
the  enemy  might  be  held  in  check.  This,  in  that 
country,  was  not  an  easy  task,  and  it  was  not  until 
the  last  rush  of  the  flying  crowd  and  the  dropping  of 
stray  bullets  here  and  there  told  that  the  pursuing 
enemy  was  close  at  hand,  that  Emory  found  room  to 
deploy  on  ground  affording  the  least  advantage  for 
the  task  before  him.  He  was  now  less  than  three 
miles  from  the  field  where  Lee  had  been  beaten 
back  and  Ransom  had  been  overwhelmed.  The 
scene  was  a  small  clearing  with  a  fenced  farm, 
traversed  by  a  narrow  by-road  and  by  a  little  creek 
flowing  toward  the  St.  Patrice.  Here  the  Confede 
rates  could  be  plainly  seen  coming  on  at  such  a  pace 
that  for  some  moments  it  was  even  doubtful  whether 
Emory  might  not  have  delayed  just  too  long  the 


SABINE  CROSS-ROADS.  309 

formation  of  his  line  of  battle.  Such  was  his  own 
thought  as  in  the  dire  need  of  the  crisis  he  deter 
mined  to  sacrifice  his  leading  regiment  in  order  to 
gain  time  and  room  for  the  division  to  form.  Hap 
pily  the  Confederates  helped  him  by  stopping  to  loot 
the  train  and  to  rejoice  loudly  over  each  discovery  of 
some  special  luxury  to  them  long  unfamiliar. 

Then  rapidly  sending  orders  to  Dwight  to  hold 
the  road  at  any  cost,  to  McMillan  to  form  on  the 
right,  to  Benedict  to  deploy  on  Dwight's  left,  Emory 
himself  rode  up  to  Kinsey,  and  together  they  led  for 
ward  the  i6ist  New  York  and  deployed  the  regiment 
widely  as  skirmishers  across  the  whole  front  of  the 
division,  in  the  very  teeth  of  the  Confederate  line  of 
battle,  rapidly  advancing  with  wild  yells  and  firing 
heavily  as  they  came.  Not  a  man  of  the  division, 
not  one  of  the  i6ist,  but  felt  as  well  as  Emory  the 
imposing  duty  laid  on  that  splendid  regiment  and 
the  hard  sacrifice  expected  of  it ;  yet  they  stood  their 
ground  so  well  and  so  long  that  not  only  had  the 
whole  division  time  to  deploy,  but,  when  at  last  the 
Confederate  line  of  battle  refused  any  longer  to  be 
held  back  by  a  fringe  of  skirmishers,  it  became  a 
serious  question  whether  friend  and  foe  might  not 
enter  the  Union  lines  together.  Then,  when  Emory 
saw  that  his  line  was  formed,  he  gave  the  word  to 
Kinsey  to  retire.  For  some  seconds  his  skirmishers 
masked  fire  of  their  own  lines,  but,  as  the  Confede 
rates  followed  with  great  impetuosity,  Dwight's  whole 
line,  kneeling,  waiting,  and  ready,  opened  a  fierce  fire 
at  point-blank  range  and  soon  threw  off  the  attack 
with  heavy  loss  to  their  assailants.  The  brunt  of  the 
attack  was  borne  by  the  2Qth  Maine,  holding  the 
centre  and  the  road.  An  attempt  followed  to  turn 


3io  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

Emory's  right  flank ;  in  this  Dwight's  right  was 
pressed  so  heavily  that  Emory  was  obliged  to  deploy 
McMillan  nearly  at  right  angles  to  the  main  front,  and 
thus  the  onset  was  easily  checked.  About  the  same 
time  the  Confederates,  whose  line  was  longer  than 
Emory's,  made  a  like  attempt  to  turn  the  left,  but 
Benedict  held  on  firmly,  and.  although  his  position 
was  a  bad  one,  soon  drove  off  his  assailants.  The 
whole  fight  was  over  in  twenty  minutes,  but  while  it 
lasted  it  was  sharp.  It  rolled  back  the  pursuit  and 
changed  the  fortunes  of  the  evil  day. 

In  no  other  battle  of  the  war  was  so  little  use 
made  of  artillery.  In  Ransom's  fight  only  a  few  guns 
could  be  brought  into  action  on  either  side,  though 
these  indeed  were  served  with  vigor.  As  for  Emory, 
he  left  his  batteries  and  his  baggage  to  the  safe 
keeping  of  the  1 53d  New  York  and  swept  to  the 
front  with  all  the  rest  of  his  infantry,  while  the  same 
jam  of  wagons  that  entrapped  the  guns  of  Lee  and 
Ransom  likewise  held  back  the  guns  of  Taylor. 
Thus  Emory's  fight  was  fought  by  infantry  alone 
against  infantry  and  dismounted  cavalry,  and  no  roar 
of  cannon  was  heard  to  break  the  rattle  and  the  wail 
of  the  musketry. 

So  great  a  change  had  these  few  hours  wrought 
that  the  same  sun  rose  upon  an  army  marching  full 
of  confidence  that  within  two  days  Shreveport  would 
be  in  its  grasp,  and  set  upon  the  same  army  defeated, 
brought  to  bay,  its  campaign  ruined,  saved  only  by 
a  triumph  of  valor  and  discipline  on  the  part  of  a 
single  division  and  of  skill  on  the  part  of  its  intrepid 
commander  from  complet'e  destruction  at  the  hands 
of  an  enemy  inferior  in  everything  and  outnumbered 
almost  as  two  to  one.  The  passage  of  a  wood  is  the 


SABINE  CROSS-ROADS.  311 

passage  of  a  defile ;  here,  then,  was  a  blind  defile, 
where  of  six  divisions  four  were  suffered  to  be 
taken  in  detail  and  attacked  in  fractions  on  ground 
of  the  enemy's  choosing.  Hardly  any  tactical  error 
was  wanting  to  complete  the  discomfiture.  Ransom 
was  overwhelmed  and  doubly  outflanked  by  two  or 
three  times  his  numbers  ;  even  Emory  had  but  five 
thousand  against  a  force  reduced  by  casualties  and 
by  straggling,  yet  still  half  as  large  again  as  his  and 
flushed  with  victory ;  moreover,  his  position  was, 
whether  for  offence  or  defence,  worthless  beyond  the 
passing  hour. 

Banks's  losses  in  the  battle  of  Sabine  Cross- Roads 
were  as  follows  : 

Killed.    Wounded.  Missing.   Total. 

Cavalry  Division      ...       39         250         144         433 
Cameron's  ....       24  99          195         318 

Landram's    "       ....       28         148         909      1,085 
Emory's  ....       24         148         175         347 

Staff  of  Nineteenth  Corps         0303 

In  all  .  .  .  115  648  1,423  2,186 
By  Taylor  the  action  is  called  the  battle  of  Mans 
field.  He  puts  his  losses  at  1,000,  all  told.  Fore 
most  among  the  slain,  while  leading  the  fierce  onset 
against  Ransom's  right,  Mouton  fell,  a  regimental 
color  in  his  hand,  and  with  him  perished  many  of  his 
brave  Louisianians. 

Clearly  the  next  thing,  whatever  might  be  the 
next  after,  was  to  concentrate  and  reform  on  the 
first  fair  ground  in  the  rear.  Such  were  Banks's 
orders.  Accordingly  at  midnight  Emory  marched 
in  orderly  retreat,  with  all  his  material  intact,  and  at 
eight  o'clock  the  next  morning,  the  Qth  of  April, 
went  into  bivouac  at  Pleasant  Hill,  where  A.  J. 


312  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

Smith  was  found  near  his  resting-place  of  the  night 
before,  and  with  him  Gooding.  Thither  Lee  and 
the  shattered  remnants  of  Ransom's  Corps,  now 
under  Cameron,  had  already  retired,  and  there  they 
now  reformed  in  comparative  order. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

PLEASANT    HILL. 

THE  scenes  and  events  of  the  8th  produced  a  deep 
effect  on  Banks.  At  first  he  was  disposed  to  look  on 
the  campaign  as  lost.  Whatever  hope  he  might  have 
had  that  morning  of  taking  or  even  reaching  Shreve- 
port  within  the  time  fixed  for  the  breaking  up  of  the 
expedition,  was  at  an  end  before  night  fell.  Not  only 
must  A.  J.  Smith  be  sent  back  to  Vicksburg  within 
two  days,  but  Banks  himself  must  be  on  the  Missis 
sippi  with  his  whole  force  ready  to  move  against 
Mobile  by  the  ist  of  May.  Such  were  his  orders  from 
Grant,  peremptory  and  repeated.  Therefore  Banks  at 
once  made  up  his  mind  to  retreat  to  Grand  Ecore, 
and  sent  messenger  after  messenger  across  the  coun 
try  to  tell  Kilby  Smith  and  Porter  what  had  happened 
and  what  he  was  about  to  do.  In  thus  deciding  he 
chose  the  second  best  course,  and  the  one  that  Taylor 
wished  for  ;  it  would  have  been  far  better  to  cover 
Blair's  Landing  and  thus  make  sure  of  the  safety  as 
well  as  the  support  of  the  gunboats  and  of  Kilby 
Smith. 

Pleasant  Hill  was  a  village  of  a  dozen  houses  dis 
persed  about  a  knoll  in  a  clearing.  Beside  the  main 
highway  between  Natchitoches  and  Shreveport,  by 
which  Banks  had  come  and  was  now  going  back, 
fairly  good  roads  radiate  to  Fort  Jesup  and  Many  on 

313 


314  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

the  south  to  the  crossings  of  the  Sabine  on  the  west, 
and  on  the  north  and  east  towards  the  Red  River. 
The  nearest  point  on  the  river  was  Blair's  Landing, 
distant  sixteen  miles  from  Pleasant  Hill  by  the  road 
and  forty-five  miles  by  water  above  Grand  Ecore. 

Though  a  good  place  to  fight  a  battle,  Pleasant 
Hill  was  not  a  position  that  could  be  held  for  any 
length  of  time,  even  if  there  had  been  an  object  in 
holding  it.  It  was  too  far  even  from  the  immediate 
base  of  supplies,  and  there  was  no  water  to  be  had 
save  from  the  cisterns  in  the  village.  These  were 
merely  sufficient,  in  ordinary  times,  for  the  storage  of 
rain  water  for  the  daily  use  of  the  inhabitants.  Now 
two  armies  had  been  drawing  from  them,  and  there 
was  not  enough  left  in  them  to  supply  the  wants  of 
Banks's  men,  to  say  nothing  of  the  animals,  for  a  single 
day  ;  and  for  this  reason,  if  for  no  other,  it  was  im 
possible  for  the  army  to  stay  there  an  hour  longer 
than  was  really  necessary  to  cover  a  safe  and  orderly 
withdrawal  of  the  train. 

Accordingly,  early  on  the  9th  of  April,  Banks  gave 
orders  for  the  wagon  train  to  be  set  in  motion  toward 
Grand  Ecore,  escorted  by  Lee  with  the  cavalry  and 
Dickey's  colored  brigade,  and  put  his  army  into 
position  at  Pleasant  Hill  to  cover  the  movement. 

Churchill  with  Tappan  and  Parsons  had  accom 
plished  the  march  of  twenty  miles  from  Keachie  to 
Mansfield  too  late  in  the  evening-  of  the  8th  to  take 
any  part  in  the  battle  of  Sabine  Cross -Roads.  At 
two  o'clock  the  next  morning  he  marched  toward  the 
front  in  order  to  arrive  on  the  ground  in  time  to  renew 
the  fight.  By  the  earliest  light  of  the  morning  Taylor 
saw  that  his  adversary  had  already  left  the  field. 
Then  he  promptly  advanced  his  whole  force,  feeling 


PLEASANT  HILL.  315 

his  way  as  he  went.  Green  led  with  the  cavalry  ; 
next  came  Churchill  with  his  own  division,  under 
Tappan  ;  then  Parsons,  Walker,  and  Polignac.  The 
morning  was  wellnigh  spent  when  Taylor  with  the 
head  of  his  column  drew  near  Pleasant  Hill  and  dis 
covered  his  adversary  in  position.  The  last  of  his 
infantry  did  not  come  up  until  after  noon.  Churchill's 
men  were  so  fagged  by  their  early  start  and  their  long 
march  of  forty-five  miles  since  the  morning  of  the 
8th  that  Taylor  thought  it  best  to  give  them  two 
hours'  rest  before  attempting  anything  more. 

Two  miles  to  the  southward,  across  the  main  road, 
stood  Emory,  firmly  holding  the  right  of  the  Union 
lines.  Dwight's  brigade  formed  the  extreme  right 
flank,  thrown  back  and  resting  on  a  wooded  ravine 
that  runs  almost  parallel  with  the  road.  Squarely 
across  the  road  and  somewhat  more  advanced,  in  the 
skirt  of  the  wood  before  the  village,  commanding  an 
open  approach,  was  posted  Shaw's  brigade,  detached 
from  Mower's  Third  division,  to  strengthen  the  ex 
posed  front  of  Emory.  Benedict  occupied  a  ditch 
traversing  a  slight  hollow,  the  course  of  which  was 
nearly  perpendicular  to  the  Logansport  road,  on  which 
his  right  rested  in  echelon  behind  the  left  of  Shaw. 
Benedict's  front  was  generally  hidden  by  a  light  growth 
of  reed  and  willow,  but  his  left  was  in  the  open  and 
was  completely  exposed.  Grow's  battery,  under  South- 
worth,  held  the  hill  between  Dwight  and  Shaw,  and 
Closson's  battery,  under  Franck  Taylor,  was  planted 
so  as  to  fire  over  the  heads  of  Benedict's  men.  Mc 
Millan's  brigade  was  in  reserve  behind  Dwight  and 
Shaw.  The  position  thus  occupied  by  Emory  was  a 
short  distance  north  of  the  village  in  front  of  the  fork 
of  the  roads  that  lead  to  Mansfield  and  to  Logansport. 


3i6  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

About  four  hundred  yards  behind  Benedict,  and 
slightly  overlapping  his  left,  the  line  was  prolonged 
by  A.  J.  Smith,  with  the  two  divisions  of  Mower, 
strongly  posted  in  the  wood,  to  cover  the  crossing  of 
the  roads  to  Fort  Jesup,  to  Natchitoches,  and  to 
Blair's  Landing.  Near  Mower's  right,  Closson  placed 
Hebard's  battery. 

The  extreme  left  flank  on  the  Fort  Jesup  road 
was  for  a  time  held  by  Cameron  ;  but,  through  some 
uncertainty  or  misunderstanding  of  orders,  he  ap 
pears  to  have  considered  himself  charged  with  the 
duty  of  protecting  the  right  flank  and  rear  of  the 
retreating  trains,  rather  than  the  left  flank  of  the 
army.  Accordingly  five  o'clock  found  him  with  the 
wagons,  two  hours'  march  from  the  field  of  battle. 

Lucas,  with  about  500  picked  men  of  his  own  bri 
gade,  taken  from  the  i6th  Indiana,  the  6th  Mis 
souri,  and  the  i4th  New  York,  and  a  like  number 
from  Gooding's  brigade,  was  detached  from  the  cav 
alry  division  for  service  under  the  immediate  orders 
of  Franklin.  With  these  detachments  Lucas  skil 
fully  watched  all  the  approaches. 

Thus  matters  rested  until  the  afternoon  was  well 
advanced,  the  long  train  steadily  rolling  on  its  way, 
and  the  prospects  of  being  molested  seeming  to  grow 
by  degrees  fainter  as  hour  after  hour  passed  and 
gave  no  sign  of  movement  on  the  part  of  the  Con 
federates. 

Taylor  formed  his  line  of  battle  and  set  his  troops 
in  motion  between  three  and  four  o'clock  in  the  after 
noon.  Bee  with  two  brigades  of  cavalry  was  on  the 
left  or  east  of  the  Mansfield  road,  supported  by 
Polignac,  on  whose  division  had  fallen  the  heaviest 
losses  of  the  day  before.  On  the  right  or  west  of 


PLEASANT  HILL.  317 

the  road  was  Walker,  while  Churchill,  with  three  regi 
ments  of  cavalry  on  his  right  flank,  moved  under 
cover  and  out  of  sight  on  the  right  or  south  of  the 
upper  road  to  the  Sabine. 

As  early  as  the  previous  evening  Taylor  had  con 
sidered  the  chances  of  Banks's  retreat  on  Blair's 
Landing,  and  had  sent  a  detachment  of  cavalry  to 
gather  intelligence  of  such  a  movement  and  to  seize 
the  crossing  of  Bayou  Pierre.  Now,  hearing  nothing 
from  this  detachment,  he  sent  Major,  with  his  own 
brigade  and  Bagby's,  to  the  right  of  the  Union  army 
in  time  to  seize  and  hold  the  road  to  the  landing. 

Taylor's  intention  was  that  Churchill  should  gain 
the  Fort  Jesup  road  and  fall  upon  the  flank  and  rear 
of  the  Union  army,  while  at  the  same  instant  Walker 
was  to  deliver  a  direct  attack  in  echelon  of  brigades 
from  the  right.  As  soon  as  Churchill  should  have 
thrown  the  Union  left  into  disorder,  Bee  was  to 
charge  down  the  Mansfield  road,  while  Major  and 
Bagby  were  to  turn  the  flank  of  Emory. 

It  was  after  three  o'clock  when  Churchill  took  up 
his  line  of  march  through  the  woods,  Parsons  leading. 
Whether  for  \rant  of  a  good  map  of  the  country  or 
from  whatever  cause,  it  seems  probable  that,  when 
the  head  of  Churchill's  column  had  gained  the  lower 
Sabine  road,  which  enters  Pleasant  Hill  from  the 
southwest,  he  mistook  it  for  the  Fort  Jesup  road, 
which  approaches  the  village  from  the  south.  Then 
changing  front  to  the  left,  the  double  lines  of 
Parsons  and  Tappan  charged  swiftly  down  on  the 
left  flank  and  diagonally  upon  the  front  of  Benedict, 
instead  of  falling,  as  Taylor  meant,  upon  the  flank 
and  rear  of  Mower.  Emory  says  the  attack  began 
at  a  quarter  after  five  ;  other  reports  name  an  earlier 


3i8  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

hour.  However  that  may  be,  night  was  approaching, 
and  the  Union  army  had  practically  given  up  the 
idea  of  being  attacked  that  day,  when  suddenly  the 
battle  began. 

Benedict's  position  was,  unavoidably,  a  bad  one, 
and  this  oblique  order  of  attack  was  singularly 
adapted  for  searching  out  its  weakness.  When  once 
Benedict's  skirmishers  had  been  driven  back  through 
the  skirt  of  the  woods  that  masked  his  right  and 
centre,  Churchill's  men  had  but  to  descend  the  slope, 
firing  as  they  came  on,  but  without  checking  their 
pace,  and  it  was  a  mere  question  of  minutes  when 
the  defenders  of  a  line  so  exposed  and  overlapped 
must  be  crushed  by  the  weight  of  thrice  their 
numbers.  For  one  brief  moment,  indeed,  the  fight 
was  hand  to  hand ;  then  Benedict's  men  were  driven 
out  of  the  ditch,  and  forced  in  more  or  less  disorder 
up  the  reverse  slope.  So  they  drifted  to  the  cover 
of  the  wood,  where  Mower  lay  in  wait,  and  there  by 
regiments  they  re-formed  and  sought  fresh  places  in 
the  front  of  battle  ;  for  Benedict  had  fallen,  and  the 
night  followed  so  quickly  that  darkness  had  closed  in 
before  the  discreet  and  zealous  Fessenden  had  gath 
ered  the  brigade  and  held  it  well  in  hand.  The 
whole  brigade  bore  the  searching  test  like  good 
soldiers,  yet  conspicuous  in  steadiness  under  the 
shock  and  in  prompt  recovery  were  the  3Oth  Maine 
and  the  i73d  New  York,  inspired  by  the  example 
and  the  leadership  of  Fessenden  and  of  Conrady. 

When  Green  heard  the  sound  of  Churchill's  mus 
ketry  he  launched  Bee  with  Debray's  and  Buchel's 
regiments  in  an  impetuous  charge  against  the  left  of 
Shaw's  line  ;  but  this  wild  swoop  was  quickly  stopped 
by  the  muskets  of  the  I4th  Iowa  and  the  24th  Mis- 


PLEASANT  HILL.  319 

souri  at  close  range.  Many  saddles  were  emptied ; 
Bee,  Buchel,  and  Debray  were  among  the  victims,  and 
in  great  disorder  the  beaten  remnants  fled. 

Eighteen  guns,  among  them,  sad  to  say,  trophies 
of  Sabine  Cross-Roads,  concentrated  their  fire  upon 
the  six  pieces  of  Southworth  and  presently  overcame 
him  by  sheer  weight.  The  giving  way  of  Benedict  had 
already  exposed  Shaw's  left  when  Walker  closed  with 
him.  Vigorously  attacked  in  front,  and  menaced  in 
flank,  Shaw  made  a  stout  fight,  but  he  was  in  great 
danger  of  being  cut  off.  Not  a  moment  too  soon, 
A.  J.  Smith  recalled  him. 

When  Shaw  gave  back,  Dwight  suddenly  found 
himself  attacked  in  front  by  Walker  and  in  flank  and 
rear  by  Major.  At  this  trying  moment  the  H4th 
New  York  and  the  i53d  New  York  were  covering 
the  fork  of  the  roads  to  Mansfield  and  to  Logans- 
port,  while  beyond  the  Mansfield  road,  on  the  right, 
stood  the  1 1 6th  New  York.  To  protect  the  left  and 
right  flanks  of  this  little  line,  Dwight  quickly  moved 
the  2Qth  Maine  and  the  i6ist  New  York.  Fortu 
nately  his  men  stood  firm  under  the  trial  of  a  fire 
that  seemed  to  come  from  all  quarters  at  once.  For 
a  moment,  indeed,  the  exultant  and  still  advancing 
Confederates  seemed  masters  of  the  plain.  Along 
the  whole  Union  front  nothing  was  to  be  seen  in 
place  save  Dwight's  men  far  off  on  the  right,  stand 
ing  as  it  were  on  a  rocky  islet,  with  the  gray  floods 
surging  on  every  side. 

But  far  away,  out  of  sight  from  the  plain,  an  event 
had  already  occurred  that  was  to  cost  the  Confeder 
ates  the  battle.  Parsons,  following  up  the  overthrow 
of  Benedict,  offered  his  own  right  flank  to  Lynch, 
who  stood  alert  and  observant  in  the  skirt  of  the 


320  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

woods,  beyond  the  left  of  Mower.  Lynch  struck 
hard  and  began  doubling  up  the  Missourians.  See 
ing  this,  and  noting  the  condition  of  affairs  on  the 
other  flank,  A.  J.  Smith  instantly  ordered  forward  his 
whole  line.  Shaw  had  already  re-formed  his  brigade 
on  the  right  of  Mower.  Across  D wight's  rear  Emory 
was  leading  McMillan  from  his  position  in  reserve,  to 
restore  the  line  on  Dwight's  left.  Then,  just  at  the 
instant  when  to  one  standing  on  the  plain  the  day 
must  have  seemed  hopelessly  lost,  the  long  lines  of 
A.  J.  Smith,  with  Mower  riding  at  the  head,  were  seen 
coming  out  of  the  woods  and  sweeping,  with  un 
broken  front  and  steady  tread,  down  upon  the  front 
and  flank  of  the  enemy.  To  the  right  of  this  splen 
did  line  McMillan  joined  his  brigade,  and  among  its 
intervals  here  and  there  the  rallied  fragments  of 
Benedict's  brigade  found  places.  Under  this  impet 
uous  onset,  Parsons  and  Tappan  and  Walker  melted 
away,  and  before  anything  could  be  done  with  Polig- 
nac,  the  whole  Confederate  army  was  in  hopeless 
confusion.  Their  disordered  ranks  were  pushed  back 
about  a  mile,  with  a  loss  of  five  guns,  and  after  night 
fall  Taylor's  infantry  and  part  of  his  cavalry  fell  back 
six  miles  to  the  stream  on  which  Emory  had  en 
camped  on  the  morning  of  the  previous  day,  while 
the  cavalry  retired  to  Mansfield,  but  Taylor  himself 
slept  near  the  field  of  battle  with  the  remnant  of 
Debray's  troopers.  In  the  superb  right  wheel,  three 
of  the  guns  lost  at  Sabine  Cross-Roads  were  retaken. 
As  soon  as  the  news  of  the  battle  of  Sabine  Cross- 
Roads  reached  Kirby  Smith  at  Shreveport,  he  rode 
to  the  front  and  joined  Taylor  after  nightfall  on  the 
Qth  of  April.  The  earliest  Confederate  despatches 
and  orders  of  Kirby  Smith  and  Taylor  claimed  a 


'  I  '  . 

*®f-vf«  T-.*1 


'^^C^t',    /^l  V-rvt* 


PLEASANT  HILL. 

APRIL  9,  1864.     FROM  GENERAL  EMORY'S  MAP. 


PLEASANT  HILL.  321 

signal  and  glorious  victory,  and  to  this  view  Taylor 
seems  to  have  adhered  ;  but  in  a  report  dated  August 
28,  1864,  Smith  says,  in  giving  his  reasons  for  not 
adopting  Taylor's  ambitious  plan  of  pursuing  Banks 
to  New  Orleans,  that  Taylor's  troops 

"  were  finally  repulsed  and  thrown  into  confusion  .  .  .  The 
Missouri  and  Arkansas  troops,  with  the  brigade  of  Walker's  di 
vision,  were  broken  and  scattered.  The  enemy  recovered  cannon 
which  we  had  captured,  and  two  of  our  pieces  were  left  in  his 
hands.  To  my  great  relief  I  found  in  the  morning  that  the  enemy 
had  fallen  back  during  the  night.  .  .  .  Our  troops  were 
completely  paralyzed  by  the  repulse  at  Pleasant  Hill." 

In  an  article  written  in  I888,1  he  adds : 

"  Our  repulse  at  Pleasant  Hill  was  so  complete  and  our  com 
mand  was  so  disorganized  that  had  Banks  followed  up  his  suc 
cess  vigorously  he  would  have  met  with  but  feeble  opposition  to 
his  advance  on  Shreveport.  .  .  .  Polignac's  (previously  Mou- 
ton's)  division  of  Louisiana  infantry  was  all  that  was  intact  of 
Taylor's  force.  .  .  .  Our  troops  were  completely  paralyzed 
and  disorganized  by  the  repulse  at  Pleasant  Hill." 

Again  in  an  intercepted  letter,  very  clear  and 
outspoken,  Lieutenant  Edward  Cunningham,  one  of 
Kirby  Smith's  aides-de-camp,  is  even  more  emphatic : 

"  That  it  was  impossible  for  us  to  pursue  Banks  immediately — 
under  four  or  five  days — cannot  be  gainsaid.     It  was  impossible 
because  we  had  been  beaten,  demoralized,  paralyzed, 
in  the  fight  of  the  Qth." 

The  losses  of  the  Union  army  in  the  battle  of 
Pleasant  Hill  were  152  killed,  859  wounded,  495 
missing;  in  all,  1,506.  Of  these,  nearly  one  half 
fell  upon  Emory's  division,  which  reported  6  officers 
and  47  men  killed,  19  officers  and  275  men  wounded, 

1   "  Century  War  Book,"  vol.  iv.,  p.  372. 
21 


322  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

4  officers  and  374  men  missing;  in  all,  725.  The 
Confederate  losses  were  estimated  by  Taylor  at  1,500. 
Each  side  claims  to  have  fought  a  superior  force, 
yet  the  numbers  seem  to  have  been  nearly  equal. 
Including  the  thousand  horsemen,  who  were  not 
seriously  engaged  at  any  time  during  the  day,  and  in 
the  battle  not  at  all,  the  Union  army  can  hardly  have 
numbered  more  than  13,000  nor  less  than  11,000. 
Taylor's  force  must  have  been  about  the  same,  for, 
although  Kirby  Smith's  figures  account  for  16,000, 
on  the  one  hand  the  attrition  of  battle  and  march  is 
to  be  reckoned,  and  on  the  other  hand  Taylor  himself 
owns  to  12,000. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

GRAND  ECORE. 

IN  the  first  moments  of  elation  that  succeeded  the 
victory,  Banks  was  all  for  resuming  the  advance,  but 
later  in  the  evening,  after  consulting  his  corps  and 
division  commanders,  he  determined  to  continue  the 
retreat  to  Grand  Ecore.  Unfortunately  by  some 
mistake  the  ambulances  had  gone  off  with  the  wagon 
train,  so  that  there  were  no  adequate  means  of  reliev 
ing  the  wounded  on  the  field.  Indeed,  all  the 
wounded  had  not  been  gathered,  and  most  of  the 
dead  lay  still  unburied,  when,  about  midnight,  Banks 
gave  the  orders  to  march.  Then  from  each  corps  a 
detail  of  surgeons  was  ordered  to  stay  behind,  with 
such  hospital  stores  as  they  had  at  hand,  and  two 
hours  later,  in  silence  and  in  darkness,  unobserved 
and  unmolested,  the  army  marched  to  the  rear,  leav 
ing  the  dead  and  wounded  of  both  sides  on  the 
ground.  In  the  order  of  march  Emory  had  the  head 
of  the  column,  Mower  the  rear.  Early  in  the  after 
noon  of  the  loth,  after  a  march  of  twenty  miles,  the 
column  halted  at  the  Bayou  Mayon.  At  sunrise  on 
the  nth  the  march  was  resumed;  and  the  same 
afternoon  found  the  whole  army  in  camp  at  Grand 
Ecore. 

Great  was  the  astonishment  of  Taylor  when  day 
light  revealed  to  him  the  retreat  of  the  victors  of 

323 


324  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

Pleasant  Hill.  He  sent  Bee  with  some  cavalry  to 
follow,  and  this  Bee  did,  yet  not  rashly,  for  in  twenty 
miles  he  came  not  once  near  enough  to  Mower's 
rear-guard  to  exchange  a  shot.  Green,  with  all  the 
rest  of  the  cavalry,  was  then  brought  back  to  Pleasant 
Hill  to  carry  on  operations  against  the  fleet  in  the 
direction  of  Blair's  Landing,  while  the  main  body  of 
the  infantry  was  drawn  in  to  Mansfield  to  reorganize. 

The  fleet  was  now  in  great  peril.  Pushing  slowly 
up  the  river,  constantly  retarded  by  the  low  stage  of 
water,  the  gunboats  and  the  transports  arrived  at 
Loggy  or  Boggy  Bayou  at  two  o'clock  on  the  after 
noon  of  the  loth  of  April.  Kilby  Smith  at  once 
landed  a  detachment  of  his  men,  and  was  proceeding 
to  carry  out  his  orders  with  regard  to  opening  com 
munication  with  Banks  by  way  of  Springfield,  when 
about  four  o'clock  Captain  Andrews,  of  the  i4th 
New  York  cavalry,  rode  in  with  his  squadron,  bring 
ing  word  of  the  battles  of  Sabine  Cross- Roads  and 
Pleasant  Hill,  and  bearing  a  message  from  Banks  to 
Kilby  Smith  that  directed  his  return  to  Grand  Ecore. 
He  was  at  that  moment  consulting  with  Porter  how 
best  they  might  get  rid  of  the  obstructions  caused  by 
the  sinking  by  the  Confederates  of  a  large  steamboat, 
called  the  New  Falls  City,  quite  across  the  channel 
from  bank  to  bank,  and  they  had  just  decided  to  set 
fire  to  her  and  blow  her  up ;  the  bad  news  made  it 
clear  that  nothing  remained  to  be  done  but  to  go 
back  down  the  river  with  all  speed. 

The  natural  obstacle  presented  by  the  deep  waters 
and  by  the  steep  banks  of  the  Bayou  Pierre  would 
have  formed  a  complete  defence  against  any  attack 
on  the  fleet  from  the  west  bank  of  the  Red  River, 
had  it  not  been  for  the  fact  that  there  are  three  good 


GRAND  ECORE.  325 

ferries  across  the  bayou,  approached  by  good  roads. 
The  upper  of  these  ways  led  to  the  river  a  long 
distance  above  the  point  attained  by  the  fleet ;  the 
second  struck  the  bank  at  Grand  Bayou,  fifteen  miles 
below  where  the  fleet  stopped  ;  the  third  was  the  road 
from  Pleasant  Hill  to  Blair's  Landing,  which  is  fifty 
miles  below  Grand  Bayou.  Liddell  was  already 
watching  the  east  bank  of  the  river,  and  Taylor  now 
sent  Bagby  across  from  Mansfield  to  Grand  Bayou 
with  his  brigade  and  Barnes's  battery,  to  cut  off  the 
fleet.  However,  Bagby  did  not  start  from  Mansfield 
until  after  daybreak  on  the  nth,  so  that  his  arrival 
at  the  mouth  of  Grand  Bayou  was  many  hours  too 
late  to  catch  the  fleet,  which  at  eight  that  evening 
tied  up  for  the  night  at  Coushatta  Chute.  Here 
Kilby  Smith  received  a  second  order  of  recall  from 
Banks,  this  time  in  writing,  and  dated  "  On  the  road, 
April  loth." 

By  noon  on  the  I2th,  Bagby,  riding  fast  and  making 
use  of  the  short  cuts,  overtook  the  rear  of  the  fleet ; 
and  somewhat  later  Green,  who  had  marched  from 
Pleasant  Hill  early  on  the  morning  of  the  nth,  with 
Woods's  and  Gould's  regiments  and  Parsons's  brigade 
of  Texans,  and  the  batteries  of  Nettles,  West,  Mc- 
Mahan,  and  Moseley,  struck  the  river  at  Blair's 
Landing  almost  simultaneously  with  the  arrival  of 
the  fleet.  Here,  about  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon, 
in  the  bend  between  the  high  banks,  Green  caught 
the  rear  of  the  transport  fleet  at  a  disadvantage. 
Making  the  most  of  his  opportunity,  he  attacked  with 
vigor.  Instantly  Kilby  Smith  and  Porter  responded 
and  a  sharp  fight  followed,  but  by  sunset  they  suc 
ceeded,  without  great  loss,  in  driving  off  their  assail 
ants.  Indeed  the  total  casualties  in  Kilby  Smith's 


326  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

division  above  Grand  Ecore  were  but  19,  and  Porter 
mentions  only  one.  Chief  among  the  Confederate 
killed  was  the  brave,  impetuous,  and  indomitable 
Green. 

About  noon  on  the  I3th,  several  of  the  boats  being 
aground  in  mid-stream,  they  were  attacked  by  Liddell, 
strongly  posted  on  the  high  bluff  known  as  Boule- 
deau  Point.  However,  all  passed  by  without  loss  or 
serious  injury,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  i4th,  the 
fleet  reached  the  bar  at  Campti,  where  A.  J.  Smith 
was  met  marching  up  the  left  bank  of  the  river  to  its 
relief.  But,  although  Campti  is  barely  twenty  miles 
above,  so  crooked  and  shallow  was  the  river  that  it 
was  midnight  on  the  i5th  before  the  last  of  the  fleet 
lay  in  safety  at  Grand  Ecore. 

Below  Grand  Ecore  there  was  a  bad  bar.  As  the 
river  continued  to  fall,  the  larger  gunboats  were  sent 
down  as  fast  as  possible  to  Alexandria,  whither  Porter 
followed  them  on  the  i6th,  leaving  the  Osage  and 
Lexington  at  Grand  Ecore,  and  the  big  Eastport 
eight  miles  below,  where,  on  the  i5th,  she  had  been 
sunk  to  her  gun-deck  either  by  a  torpedo  or  by  a 
snag.  The  admiral  brought  up  his  pump  boats  and 
after  removing  the  guns  got  the  Eastport  afloat  on 
the  2 1  st. 

As  Banks  realized  that  his  campaign  was  ruined, 
he  grew  earnest  in  trying  to  meet  Grant's  expecta 
tions  and  orders,  requiring  him  to  be  on  the  Missis 
sippi  by  the  first  of  May.  For  ten  days  he  had  been 
waiting  at  Grand  Ecore,  only  to  see  the  last  of  the 
fleet  pass  down  in  safety.  Meanwhile  he  had  en 
trenched  his  position,  thrown  a  pontoon  bridge  across 
the  river,  placed  a  strong  detachment  from  Smith's 
command  on  the  north  bank,  and  sent  urgent  orders 


GRAND  ECORE.  327 

to  Alexandria,  to  New  Orleans,  and  to  Texas  for  re 
inforcements.  Birge,  with  his  own  brigade  and  the 
38th  Massachusetts  and  the  i28th  New  York  of 
Sharpens  brigade,  embarked  at  Alexandria  on  the 
1 2th  of  April,  and  joined  Emory  on  the  i3th.  Nick- 
erson's  brigade  came  from  New  Orleans  to  join 
Grover  at  Alexandria.  On  the  2oth  of  April,  learn 
ing  that  the  Eastport  was  expected  to  float  within  a 
few  hours,  Banks  sent  A.  J.  Smith  to  take  position 
covering  Natchitoches,  and  when  the  next  day  he 
heard  from  the  admiral  that  the  Eastport  was  actually 
afloat,  he  lost  not  a  moment  in  beginning  the  march 
on  Alexandria. 

An  hour  later  the  Eastport  again  struck  the 
bottom  ;  eight  times  more  she  ran  hard  aground  ;  at 
last  on  the  25th  she  lay  immovable  on  a  raft  of  logs, 
and  the  next  day  her  crew  gave  her  to  the  flames. 

For  some  time  the  relations  between  the  command 
ing  general  and  his  chief-of-staff  had  been  strained, 
and  in  spite  of  Stone's  zeal  and  gallantry  in  the  late 
battles,  Banks  had  determined  on  a  change,  indeed 
had  already  announced  it  in  orders,  when  on  the  i6th 
of  April  he  received  an  order  of  the  War  Office  bear 
ing  date  the  28th  of  March,  whereby  Stone  was  re 
lieved  from  duty  in  the  Department  of  the  Gulf,  de 
prived  of  his  rank  as  a  brigadier-general,  and  ordered 
to  go  to  Cairo,  Illinois,  and  thence  to  report  by  letter 
to  the  adjutant-general  of  the  army.  For  this  action 
neither  cause  nor  occasion  has  ever  been  made 
known.  Then  Banks  recalled  his  own  order  and 
published  this  instead,  and  on  the  following  day  he 
made  Dwight  his  chief-of-staff,  the  command  of 
D wight's  brigade  falling  to  Beal. 


CHAPTER   XXVII. 

THE  CROSSING  OF  CANE  RIVER. 

BANKS  broke  camp  at  Grand  Ecore  at  five  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon  of  the  2ist  of  April  and  turned  over 
the  direction  and  control  of  the  march  to  Franklin. 

The  cavalry  corps,  now  commanded  by  Arnold, 
was  separated  by  brigades.  Gooding  took  the  ad 
vance  ;  Crebs,  who  had  succeeded  to  Robinson's  com 
mand,  rode  with  Birge  ;  E.  J.  Davis,  with  Dudley's 
brigade,  covered  the  right  flank ;  and  Lucas,  report 
ing  to  A.  J.  Smith,  formed  the  rear-guard. 

Birge  led  the  main  column  with  a  temporary  di 
vision  formed  of  the  I3th  Connecticut  and  the  ist 
Louisiana  of  his  own  brigade  under  Fiske,  the  38th 
Massachusetts  and  the  I28th  New  York  of  Sharpe's 
brigade  under  James  Smith,  and  Fessenden's  brigade 
of  Emory's  division.  Next  were  the  trains,  in  the 
same  order  as  the  troops.  Emory  followed  with  the 
brigades  of  Beal  and  McMillan  and  the  artillery 
reserve  under  Closson.  Then  came  Cameron,  and 
last  A.  J.  Smith,  in  the  order  of  Kilby  Smith  and 
Mower. 

Crossing  Cane  River  about  two  miles  below  Grand 
Ecore,  the  line  of  march  traversed  the  length  of  the 
long  island  formed  by  the  two  branches  of  the  Red 
River,  and  recrossed  the  right  arm  at  Monett's  Ferry. 

328 


THE  CROSSING  OF  CANE  RIVER.  329 

For  the  whole  distance  the  army  was  once  more  sep 
arated  from  the  fleet. 

It  was  half-past  one  on  the  morning  of  the  22d 
before  the  last  of  the  wagons  had  effected  the  first 
crossing  of  Cane  River.  By  three  o'clock  Emory 
was  on  the  south  bank,  and  A.  J.  Smith  at  five. 

As  early  as  the  i4th  of  April,  at  Mansfield,  Kirby 
Smith  had  withdrawn  Churchill  and  Walker  from 
Taylor  and  sent  them  to  aid  in  driving  Steele  back 
into  Arkansas.  This  left  Taylor  only  the  infantry 
of  Polignac,  reduced  to  2,000  muskets,  and  the  re 
organized  cavalry  corps  under  Wharton,  comprising 
the  divisions  of  Bee,  Major,  and  William  Steele. 
With  this  handful,  Taylor  undertook  to  harry  Banks 
by  blocking  his  communications  and  beating  up  his 
out-posts ;  but  just  at  that  moment  Banks  moved  and 
thus,  by  the  merest  chance,  brought  Bee  and  Major, 
with  four  brigades  and  four  batteries  directly  across 
his  path,  on  the  high  ground  at  Monett's  bluff,  com 
manding  the  ford  and  the  ferry.  At  three  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon  of  the  22d,  Wharton  with  Steele's 
division,  supported  by  Polignac,  engaged  Lucas 
sharply,  compelling  A.  J.  Smith  to  deploy  and  the 
rest  of  the  column  to  halt  for  an  hour ;  and  thus 
began  a  series  of  almost  continuous  skirmishes  that 
lasted  nearly  to  Alexandria,  yet  without  material 
result. 

At  seven  o'clock  in  the  evening  of  the  22d  of 
April,  Birge  halted  for  the  night  two  miles  beyond 
Cloutierville.  Under  orders  inspired  by  the  urgency, 
he  had  been  pushing  on  at  all  speed  to  seize  the 
crossing ;  in  spite  of  the  heat  and  the  dust,  he  had 
led  the  column  at  the  furious  pace  of  thirty-eight 
miles,  perhaps  forty,  in  twenty-six  hours  ;  but  Good- 


330  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

ing  had  already  found  the  Confederates  in  strong 
possession,  and  now  it  seemed  clear  that  the  passage 
must  be  forced.  At  nine  o'clock  Emory  and  Cam 
eron  closed  on  Birge  and  halted,  and  at  three  in 
the  morning  A.  J.  Smith  came  up. 

At  daylight  on  the  23d  of  April,  Franklin  moved 
down  to  the  ferry  and  began  to  reconnoitre.  His 
wound  had  now  become  so  painful  as  to  disable  him ; 
accordingly,  after  maturing  his  plans,  he  turned  over 
his  command  to  Emory,  with  orders  to  dislodge  the 
enemy  and  to  open  the  way.  With  equal  skill,  care, 
and  vigor,  Emory  instantly  set  about  this  critical 
task,  upon  which  the  fate  of  the  army  may  almost  be 
said  to  have  depended,  and  with  this  the  safety  of 
the  fleet. 

The  ground  on  which  the  Union  army  found  itself 
was,  like  the  whole  island,  low  and  flat  and  largely 
covered  with  a  thick  growth  of  cane  and  willow. 
Near  the  river  the  soil  was  moreover  swampy  and 
the  brakes  were  for  the  most  part  impenetrable. 
On  the  high  bluff  opposite,  masked  by  the  trees, 
stood  Bee  with  the  brigades  of  Debray  and  Terrell, 
Major  with  his  two  brigades  under  Baylor  and  Bagby, 
and  the  twenty-four  guns  of  McMahon,  Moseley,  West, 
and  Nettles.  The  position  was  too  strong  and  too 
difficult  of  approach  to  be  taken  by  a  direct  attack 
save  at  a  great  cost.  Through  the  labyrinthine  morass 
that  lay  between  the  ferry  and  the  river's  mouth  Bailey 
and  E.  J.  Davis  searched  in  vain  for  a  practicable  ford. 
Nothing  remained  but  to  try  the  other  flank. 

Birge  with  his  temporary  division  augmented  by 
Cameron's,  without  artillery  and  with  no  horsemen 
save  a  few  mounted  men  of  the  i3th  Connecticut, 
was  to  march  back,  to  ford  Cane  River  two  miles 


THE  CROSSING  OF  CANE  RIVER.  331 

above  the  bluff,  and  by  a  wide  detour  to  sweep  down 
upon  the  Confederate  left. 

To  amuse  the  enemy  and  to  draw  his  attention  away 
from  Birge,  Emory,  who  had  yielded  his  division  to 
McMillan,  caused  him  to  deploy  the  First  and  Second 
brigades  under  Beal  and  Rust,  and  to  threaten  the 
crossing  directly  in  front,  while  Closson  advanced  his 
guns  and  kept  up  a  steady  and  well  judged  fire 
against  the  Confederate  position  on  the  hill. 

Birge  took  up  the  line  of  march  at  nine  o'clock. 
His  progress  was  greatly  delayed  not  only  by  the 
passage  of  Cane  River,  where  the  water  was  waist- 
deep,  but  also  by  the  swampy  and  broken  ground, 
and  by  the  dense  undergrowth  through  which  he  had 
to  force  his  way.  Thus  the  afternoon  was  well  ad 
vanced  before  he  found  the  position  of  the  Confed 
erates  on  a  hill,  with  their  right  flank  resting  on  a 
deep  ravine,  and  their  left  upon  a  marsh  and  a  small 
lake,  drained  by  a  muddy  bayou  that  wound  about 
the  foot  of  the  hill.  Up  to  this  point  Fiske  had  led 
the  advance.  Now,  in  deploying,  after  emerging 
from  the  thicket,  he  found  himself  before  the  enemy's 
centre,  while  Fessenden  confronted  their  left.  Fiske 
formed  his  men  in  two  lines,  the  I3th  Connecticut 
and  the  ist  Louisiana  in  front,  supported  by  James 
Smith  with  the  38th  Massachusetts  and  the  i28th 
New  York.  To  Fessenden  Birge  gave  the  duty  of 
carrying  the  hill. 

Behind  a  hedge  and  a  high  fence  Fessenden  de 
ployed  his  brigade  from  right  to  left  in  the  order  of 
the  i65th  New  York,  the  i;3d  New  York,  the  3Oth 
Maine,  and  the  1626.  New  York.  Directly  before 
them,  on  the  other  side  of  the  fence,  was  an  open 
field  inclining  toward  the  front  in  a  gentle  slope,  and 


332  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

traversed  at  the  foot  by  a  second  and  stouter  fence, 
beyond  which  a  sandy  knoll  arose,  covered  with  trees, 
bushes,  and  fallen  timber.  On  the  crest  the  enemy 
stood,  Bee  having  changed  front  to  the  left  and  rear 
as  soon  as  he  made  out  the  movement  of  Birge. 

Stopping  but  to  throw  down  the  fence,  at  the  word 
Fessenden's  whole  line  ran  across  the  field  to  the 
foot  of  the  hill.  There  the  brigade  quickly  re-formed 
for  the  ascent,  and  then,  with  Fessenden  at  the  head, 
charged  stiffly  up  the  difficult  slope  straight  in  the 
teeth  of  the  hot  fire  of  Bee's  dismounted  troopers. 
Many  fell,  among  them  Fessenden  with  a  bad  hurt ; 
the  1 65th  New  York  found  itself  hindered  by  the 
marsh,  but  gallantly  led  on  by  Hubbard,  by  Conrady, 
and  by  Blanchard  the  3Oth  Maine,  the  i73d  New 
York,  and  the  i62d  New  York  won  the  crest  and 
opened  fire  on  the  retreating  foe.  Once  more  halting 
to  re-form  his  lines,  Birge  swept  on,  gained  the 
farther  hill  without  much  trouble,  and  moving  to 
the  left  uncovered  the  crossing.  Birge's  loss  in  this 
engagement  was  about  200,  of  whom  153  were  in 
Fessenden's  brigade,  and  of  these  86  in  the  3Oth 
Maine.  In  leading  the  charge  across  the  open 
ground  Fessenden  was  severely  wounded  in  the  leg, 
and  the  command  of  his  brigade  fell  to  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Blanchard. 

As  soon  as  Emory,  on  the  north  bank  of  Cane 
River,  heard  the  noise  of  the  battle  on  the  opposite 
heights,  he  posted  five  guns  under  Closson  (two  of 
H inkle's  twenty-pounder  Parrotts,  one  gun  of  Nields' 
ist  Delaware,  one  of  Hebard's  ist  Vermont,  and  one 
of  the  25th  New  York  battery),  to  silence  the  Con 
federate  artillery  on  their  right,  in  front  of  the  cross- 
ing,  well  supported  by  the  n6th  New  York,  and 


THE  CROSSING  OF  CANE  RIVER.  333 

deployed  his  skirmishers  as  if  for  an  assault.  Tempted 
by  the  exposed  position  of  these  guns,  Bee  sent  a 
detachment  across  the  river  to  capture  them,  but 
Love  easily  threw  off  the  attack;  and  seeing  this, 
Chrysler,  whose  regiment,  the  2d  New  York  Veteran 
Cavalry,  was  dismounted  in  skirmishing  order  on 
the  left,  at  once  led  his  men  in  pursuit  and  seized 
the  crossing. 

Bee  retreated  rapidly  to  Beasley's,  thirty  miles 
away  to  the  southward,  on  the  Fort  Jesup  road,  with 
out  making  any  further  effort  to  stay  or  trouble  the 
retreat  of  Banks. 

Word  coming  from  Davis  that  he  had  been  unable 
to  find  a  crossing  below,  Emory,  when  he  saw  the 
enemy  in  retreat,  sent  Chrysler  and  Crebs  in  pursuit, 
supported  by  Cameron.  However,  this  came  to 
nothing,  for  Chrysler  naturally  enough  followed  the 
small  Confederate  rear-guard  that  held  to  the  main 
road  toward  Alexandria. 

The  pontoon  bridge  was  at  once  laid,  and  being 
completed  soon  after  dark,  the  march  was  continued 
by  night,  McMillan,  with  Beal  and  Rust,  moving  six 
miles  to  the  reversed  front  to  cover  the  train. 

About  ten  o'clock  on  the  same  morning  Wharton 
charged  down  on  Kilby  Smith,  who  was  moving  up 
to  the  rear  of  A.  J.  Smith's  command  and  of  the 
army,  but  was  driven  off  after  a  fight  lasting  an  hour. 

By  two  o'clock  on  the  afternoon  of  April  24th,  Beal's 
men  being  on  the  south  bank  of  Cane  River,  the 
bridge  was  taken  up  and  the  march  continued  without 
further  molestation  by  Cotile  and  Henderson's  Hill, 
the  head  of  the  column  resting  at  night  near  the  Bayou 
Rapides. 

Marching  thence  at  six  o'clock  on  the  morning  of 


334  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

the  25th  of  April,  the  head  of  the  column  arrived  at 
Alexandria  at  two  o'clock  that  afternoon,  and  on  the 
following  day  A.  J.  Smith  brought  up  the  rear.  Here 
the  fleet,  with  the  exception  of  the  ill-fated  Eastport, 
was  found  lying  in  safety,  yet  unfortunately  above  the 
falls. 

Here,  too,  early  on  the  2;th  came  Hunter,  with 
fresh  and  very  positive  orders  from  Grant  to  Banks, 
bearing  date  the  1 7th,  requiring  him  to  bring  the  ex 
pedition  to  an  immediate  end,  to  turn  over  his  com 
mand  at  once  to  the  next  in  rank,  and  to  go  himself 
to  New  Orleans.  In  truth,  this  was  but  the  culmina 
tion  of  an  earnest  and  persistent  wish  on  Grant's  part, 
shown  even  as  far  back  as  the  beginning  of  the 
campaign,  to  replace  Banks  in  command  by  Hunter 
or  another.  When,  afterward,  Grant  came  to  learn 
of  the  perilous  situation  of  the  fleet,  and  moreover 
perceived  that  none  of  the  troops  engaged  in  the 
expedition  could  be  in  time  to  take  part  in  the  spring 
campaigns  east  of  the  Mississippi,  he  suspended  these 
orders,  and,  without  recalling  that  portion  of  them  that 
required  Banks  to  go  to  New  Orleans,  directed  the 
operations  for  the  rescue  of  the  navy  to  go  on  under 
the  senior  commander  present.  In  any  case,  however, 
it  was  now  clearly  impossible  to  abandon  the  fleet  in 
its  dangerous  and  helpless  position  above  the  rapids, 
with  the  river  falling,  and  an  active  enemy  on  both 
banks. 

And  Steele, — where  was  Steele  all  this  time? 
Having  rejected  Banks's  advice  to  join  him  near  Alex 
andria,  marching  by  way  of  Monroe  and  so  down  the 
Onachita,  Steele  set  out  from  Little  Rock  on  the  24th 
of  March,  moved  by  his  right  on  Arkadelphia,  and 
arrived  there  on  the  28th.  His  object  in  preferring 


THE  CROSSING  OF  CANE  RIVER.  335 

this  direction  was,  not  only  to  avoid  the  heavy  roads  in 
the  low  lands  of  the  Ouachita,  but  to  take  up  Thayer, 
who  was  already  on  the  march  from  Fort  Smith  ; 
thus  making  a  fourth  concentration  in  the  enemy's 
country.  The  exigencies  of  the  wretched  farce  called 
a  State  election  in  Arkansas  had  reduced  Steele's 
effective  force  by  fully  3,000,  so  that  he  now  moved 
with  barely  7,000  of  all  arms,  and  six  batteries. 
Opposed  to  Steele  was  Price,  with  the  cavalry  divi 
sions  of  Fagan  and  Marmaduke,  the  former  at  Spring 
Hill  to  meet  the  advance  from  Arkadelphia,  and  the 
latter  at  Camden,  to  guard  the  line  of  the  Ouachita. 
To  strengthen  himself,  Price  drew  in  Cabell  and 
Maxey,  who  with  three  brigades  were  at  first  engaged 
in  watching  Thayer. 

On  the  ist  of  April,  hearing  nothing  from  Thayer, 
Steele  advanced  from  Arkadelphia,  crossed  the  Little 
Missouri  at  Elkin's  Ferry  on  the  3d,  was  joined  by 
Thayer  on  the  6th,  and  on  the  loth  had  a  sharp 
engagement  with  an  outlying  brigade,  under  Shelby, 
of  Price's  army.  Price  was  then  at  Prairie  d'Ane, 
covering  the  crossing  of  the  roads  that  led  to  Camden 
and  to  Shreveport,  but  on  the  evening  of  the  nth  he 
drew  back  beyond  the  prairie  to  a  strong  position 
eight  miles  north  of  Washington.  To  have  followed 
Price  would  have  been  to  put  Steele's  long  and  length 
ening  line  of  communication  at  the  mercy  of  Marma 
duke.  This  was  what  Price  wanted  ;  but  when,  on  the 
1 2th,  Steele  saw  the  road  to  Camden  left  open,  he 
promptly  took  it,  and,  harried  by  Price  in  his  rear, 
and  not  seriously  impeded  by  Marmaduke  in  his 
front,  he  marched  into  Camden  on  the  i5th,  and 
occupied  the  strong  line  of  the  Confederate  defences. 
This  was  four  days  after  the  return  of  Banks  to  Grand 


336  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

Ecore,  which  of  course  put  an  end  to  any  farther 
advance  of  Steele  in  the  direction  of  Shreveport,  and 
while  he  was  waiting  for  authentic  news,  Price  was 
busy  on  his  line  of  communication  with  Pine  Bluff, 
and  Kirby  Smith,  with  Churchill  and  Walker,  was 
moving  rapidly  to  join  Price.  On  the  2oth  of  April 
Kirby  Smith  appeared  before  the  lines  of  Camden  ; 
but  Steele  had  already  begun  his  inevitable  retreat  a 
few  hours  earlier,  and  having  destroyed  the  bridge 
across  the  Ouachita,  gained  so  long  a  start  that  he 
was  enabled  to  make  good  the  difficult  crossing  of 
the  Saline  at  Jenkins's  Ferry,  but  only  after  a  hard 
fight  on  the  3Oth  of  April  with  the  combined  forces  of 
Smith  and  Price.  Finally,  the  2d  of  May  saw  Steele 
back  at  Little  Rock  with  his  army  half  starved,  greatly 
reduced  in  men  and  material  in  these  six  ineffectual 
weeks,  thinking  no  longer  of  Halleck's  wide  scheme 
of  conquest,  or  even  of  Grant's  wish  to  hold  the  line 
of  the  Red  River,  but  rather  hoping  for  some  stroke 
of  good  fortune  to  enable  him  to  defend  the  line  of 
the  Arkansas  and  to  keep  Price  out  of  Missouri. 


STONE   CRIB. 


TREE  DAM. 


BRACKET  DAM. 


ted  of  Ri 
THE    RED    RIVER    DAM. 


CHAPTER    XXVIII. 

THE  DAM. 

DIRECTLY  after  the  capture  of  Port  Hudson,  Bailey 
offered  to  float  the  two  Confederate  transport  steam 
ers,  Starlight  and  Red  Chief,  that  were  found  lying 
on  their  sides  high  and  almost  dry  in  the  middle  of 
Thompson's  Creek.  With  smiles  and  a  shrug  or  two 
permission  was  given  him  to  try ;  he  tried ;  he 
succeeded  ;  and  this  experience  it  undoubtedly  was 
that  caused  his  words  to  be  listened  to  so  readily 
when  he  now  proposed  to  rescue  the  fleet  in  the  same 
way.  But  to  build  at  leisure  and  unmolested  a  pair  of 
little  wing-dams  in  the  ooze  of  Thompson's  Creek  and 
to  close  the  opening  by  a  central  boom  against  that 
sluggish  current  was  one  thing  ;  it  was  quite  another 
to  repeat  the  same  operation  against  time,  while  sur 
rounded  and  even  cut  off  by  a  strong  and  active 
enemy,  this  too  on  the  scale  required  to  hold  back  the 
rushing  waters  of  the  Red  River,  at  a  depth  sufficient 
for  the  passage  of  the  heaviest  of  the  gunboats  and 
for  a  time  long  enough  to  let  the  whole  fleet  go  by. 
Yet,  bold  as  the  bare  conception  seems,  and  stupen 
dous  as  the  work  looks  when  regarded  in  detail,  no 
sooner  had  it  been  suggested  by  Bailey  than  every 
engineer  in  the  army  at  once  entered  heartily  into  the 
scheme.  Palfrey,  who  had  previously  made  a  com 
plete  survey  of  the  rapids,  examined  the  plan  carefully, 

337 


338  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

and  approved  it.  Franklin,  to  whose  staff  Bailey  was 
attached,  himself  an  engineer  of  distinguished  attain 
ments  and  wide  experience,  approved  it,  and  Banks  at 
once  gave  orders  to  carry  it  out. 

Tn  the  month  that  had  elapsed  since  the  fleet 
ascended  the  rapids,  the  river  had  fallen  more  than 
six  feet ;  for  more  than  a  mile  the  rocks  now  lay  bare. 
In  the  worst  places  but  forty  inches  of  water  were 
found,  while  with  seven  feet  the  heavy  gunboats 
could  barely  float,  and  in  some  places  the  channel, 
shallow  as  it  was,  narrowed  to  a  thread.  The  current 
ran  nine  miles  an  hour.  The  whole  fall  was  thirteen 
feet,  and  at  the  point  just  above  the  lower  chute, 
where  Bailey  proposed  to  construct  his  dam,  the  river 
was  758  feet  wide,  with  a  fall  of  six  feet  below  the 
dam.  The  problem  was  how  to  raise  the  water 
above  the  dam  seven  feet,  backing  it  up  so  as  to  float 
the  gunboats  over  the  upper  rapids. 

Heavy  details  were  made  from  the  troops,  the 
working  parties  were  carefully  selected,  and  on  the 
3Oth  of  April  the  work  was  begun.  From  the  north 
bank  a  wing-dam  was  constructed  of  large  trees,  the 
butts  tied  by  cross  logs,  the  tops  laid  towards  the 
current,  covered  with  brush,  and  weighted,  to  keep 
them  in  place,  with  stone  and  brick  obtained  by  tear 
ing  down  the  buildings  in  the  neighborhood.  On 
the  south  bank,  where  large  trees  were  scarce,  a  crib 
was  made  of  logs  and  timbers  filled  in  with  stone 
and  with  bricks  and  heavy  pieces  of  machinery  taken 
from  the  neighboring  sugar-houses  and  cotton-gins. 
When  this  was  done  there  remained  an  open  space 
of  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  between  the 
wings,  through  which  the  rising  waters  poured  with 
great  velocity.  This  gap  was  nearly  closed  by 


THE  DAM.  339 

sinking  across  it  four  of  the  large  Mississippi  coal- 
barges  belonging  to  the  navy. 

When  on  the  8th  of  May  all  was  thus  completed, 
the  water  was  found  to  have  risen  five  feet  four  and 
a  half  inches  at  the  upper  fall,  giving  a  measured 
depth  there  of  eight  feet  eight  and  one  half  inches. 
Three  of  the  light-draught  gunboats,  Osage,  Neosho, 
and  Fort  Hindman,  which  had  steam  up,  took  prompt 
advantage  of  the  rise  to  pass  the  upper  fall,  and  soon 
lay  in  safety  in  the  pool  formed  by  the  dam ;  yet  for 
some  reason  the  other  boats  of  the  fleet  were  not 
ready,  and  thus  in  the  very  hour  when  safety  was 
apparently  within  their  reach,  suddenly  they  were 
once  more  exposed  to  a  danger  even  greater  than 
before.  Early  on  the  morning  of  the  gth  the  tre 
mendous  pressure  of  pent-up  waters  surging  against 
the  dam  drove  out  two  of  the  barges,  making  a  gap 
sixty-six  feet  wide,  and  swung  them  furiously  against 
the  rocks  below.  Through  the  gap  the  river  rushed 
in  a  roaring  torrent.  At  sight  and  sound  of  this,  the 
Admiral  at  once  mounted  a  horse,  galloped  to 
the  upper  fall,  and  called  out  to  the  Lexington  to  run 
the  rapids.  Instantly  the  Lexington  was  under  way, 
and  as,  with  a  full  head  of  steam  she  made  the 
plunge,  every  man  in  the  army  and  the  fleet  held  his 
breath  in  the  terrible  silence  of  suspense.  For  a 
moment  she  seemed  lost  as  she  reeled  and  almost 
disappeared  in  the  foam  and  surge,  but  only  to  be 
greeted  with  a  mighty  cheer,  such  as  brave  men  give 
to  courage  and  good  fortune,  when  she  was  seen  to 
ride  in  safety  below.  The  Osage,  the  Neosho,  and  the 
Fort  Hindman  promptly  followed  her  down  the  chute, 
but  the  other  six  gunboats  and  the  two  tugs  were  still 
imprisoned  above  by  the  sudden  sinking  of  the  swift 


340  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

rushing  waters  ;  the  jaws  of  danger,  for  an  instant 
relaxed,  had  once  more  shut  tightly  on  the  prey. 
Doubt  and  gloom  took  the  place  of  exultation.  As 
for  the  army,  hard  as  had  been  the  work  demanded 
of  it,  still  greater  exertions  were  before  it,  nor  was 
their  result  by  any  means  certain,  for  the  volume  of 
the  river  was  daily  diminishing,  and  there  would  be 
no  more  rise  that  year. 

So  far  Bailey  had  substantially  followed,  though 
on  a  larger  scale,  the  same  plan  that  had  worked  so 
successfully  the  year  before  at  Port  Hudson.  But 
against  a  weight,  a  volume,  and  a  velocity  of  water 
such  as  had  to  be  encountered  here,  it  was  now  plainly 
seen  that  something  else  would  have  to  be  tried.  No 
emergency,  however  great  or  sudden,  ever  finds  a 
man  of  his  stamp  unready.  As  soon  therefore  as  the 
collapse  showed  him  the  defect  in  his  first  plan,  he 
instantly  set  about  remedying  it  by  dividing  the 
weight  of  water  to  be  contended  with.  At  the  upper 
fall  three  wing-dams  were  constructed.  Just  above 
the  rocks  a  stone  crib  was  laid  on  the  south  side, 
and  directly  opposite  to  this  on  the  north  side  a  tree- 
dam,  like  that  already  described  when  speaking  of 
the  original  dam.  Just  below  the  rocks,  projecting 
diagonally  from  the  north  bank,  a  bracket-dam  was 
built,  made  of  logs  having  one  end  sunk  to  meet  the 
current,  the  other  end  raised  on  trestles,  and  the 
whole  then  sheathed  with  plank.  By  this  means 
the  whole  current  was  turned  into  one  very  narrow 
channel,  and  a  new  rise  of  fourteen  inches  was  gained, 
giving  in  all  six  feet  six  and  one  half  inches  of  water. 
Every  man  bending  himself  to  the  task  to  his  utmost, 
by  the  most  incredible  exertions  this  new  work  was 
completed  in  three  days  and  three  nights,  and  thus 


THE  DAM.  341 

during  the  I2th  and  i3th  the  remainder  of  the  fleet 
passed  free  of  the  danger. 

The  cribs  were  washed  away  during  the  spring  rise 
in  1865  ;  but  it  is  said  that  the  main  tree-dam  survives 
to  this  day,  having  driven  the  channel  towards  the 
south  shore,  and  washed  away  a  large  slice  of  the 
bank  at  the  upper  end  of  the  town  of  Alexandria. 

For  his  part  in  the  conception  and  execution  of 
this  great  undertaking,  Bailey  received  the  thanks  of 
Congress  on  the  nth  of  June,  1864,  and  was  after 
ward  made  a  brigadier-general  by  the  President. 

The  troops  engaged  in  constructing  the  dam  were 
the  97th  colored,  Colonel  George  D.  Robinson  ;  the 
99th  colored,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Uri  B.  Pearsall  ; 
the  29th  Maine,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Charles  S.  Emer 
son  ;  the  1 33d  New  York,  a  detail  of  300  men,  under 
Captain  Anthony  J.  Allaire;  the  i6ist  New  York, 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Wm.  B.  Kinsey  ;  the  pioneers  of 
the  Thirteenth  Army  Corps,  125  in  number,  com 
manded  by  Captain  John  B.  Hutchens  of  the  24th 
Indiana,  and  composed  of  men  detailed  from  the  i  ith, 
24th,  34th,  46th,  47th,  and  67th  Indiana,  the  48th, 
56th,  83d,  and  96th  Ohio,  the  24th  and  28th  Iowa,  the 
23d  and  29th  Wisconsin,  i3Oth  Illinois,  and  1 9th  Ken 
tucky  ;  460  men  of  the  27th  Indiana,  29th  Wisconsin, 
I9th  Kentucky,  i3Oth  Illinois,  83d  Ohio,  24th  Iowa, 
23d  Wisconsin,  77th  Illinois,  and  i6th  Ohio,  com 
manded  by  Captain  George  W.  Stein  of  the  latter 
regiment. 

Bailey  was  also  greatly  assisted  by  a  detail  from 
the  navy,  under  Lieutenant  Amos  R.  Langthorne, 
commanding  the  Mound  City.  Besides  these  offi 
cers,  all  of  whom  rendered  service  the  most  laborious 
and  the  most  valuable,  Bailey  acknowledges  his  in- 


342  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

debtedness  to  Brigadier-General  Dwight,  Colonel 
James  Grant  Wilson,  and  Lieutenant  Charles  S. 
Sargent  of  Banks's  staff  ;  to  Major  W.  H.  Sentell, 
i6oth  New  York,  provost-marshal  ;  Lieutenant  John 
J.  Williamson,  ordnance  officer  of  the  Nineteenth 
Corps ;  and  Lieutenant  Sydney  Smith  Fairchild, 
i6ist  New  York. 

All  this  time  the  army  lying  about  Alexandria,  to 
secure  the  safety  of  the  navy,  was  itself  virtually  in 
vested  by  the  small  but  active  forces  under  Taylor, 
who  now  found  himself,  not  only  foot  loose,  but  once 
more  able  to  use  for  his  supplies  the  channel  of  the 
upper  Red  River,  whence  he  had  caused  the  obstruc 
tions  to  be  removed  as  soon  as  the  withdrawal  of  Banks 
relieved  all  fears  of  invasion,  and  turned  the  thoughts 
of  the  Confederate  chiefs  to  dreams  of  conquest. 

On  the  3ist  of  March  Grant  had  peremptorily 
ordered  the  evacuation  of  the  coast  of  Texas  save 
only  the  position  held  at  the  mouth  of  the  Rio  Grande, 
and  Banks,  as  soon  as  he  received  this  order,  had 
ordered  McClernand  to  join  him  with  the  bulk  of  his 
troops,  consisting  of  the  First  and  Second  divisions 
of  the  Thirteenth  Corps.  McClernand,  with  Lawler's 
brigade  of  the  former,  arrived  at  Alexandria  on  the 
29th  of  April ;  Warren,  with  the  rest  of  his  division, 
was  on  his  way  up  the  Red  River,  when  he  found 
himself  cut  off  near  Marksville.  Then  he  seized  Fort 
De  Russy  and  held  it  until  the  campaign  ended. 

Brisk  skirmishing  went  on  from  day  to  day  between 
the  outposts  and  advanced  guards,  yet  Banks,  though 
he  had  five  men  to  one  of  Taylor's,1  held  fast  by  his 

1  Banks's  return  for  April  3Oth  shows  33,502  officers  and  men  for  duty.  May 
loth,  Taylor  says  :  "  To  keep  this  up  with  my  little  force  of  scarce  6,000  men, 
I  am  compelled  to  '  eke  out  the  lion's  skin  with  the  fox's  hide.'  "  ("  Official  Rec 
ords,"  vol.  xxxiv.,  part  i.,  p.  590.)  He  does  not  count  his  cavalry. 


THE  DAM.  343 

earthworks  without  making  any  real  effort  to  crush  or 
to  drive  off  his  adversary,  while  on  their  part  the 
Confederates  refrained  from  any  serious  attempt  to 
interrupt  the  navigation  of  the  lower  Red  River  until 
the  evening  of  the  3d  of  May,  when  near  David's 
Ferry  Major  attacked  and,  after  a  sharp  fight,  took 
the  transport  City  Belle,  which  he  caught  coming  up 
the  river  with  425  officers  and  men  of  the  i2Oth  Ohio. 
Many  were  killed  or  wounded,  and  many  others  taken 
prisoners,  a  few  escaping  through  the  forest.  Major 
then  sunk  the  steamboat  across  the  channel  and  thus 
closed  it.  Early  on  the  morning  of  the  5th  of  May 
Major,  with  Hardeman's  and  Lane's  cavalry  brigades 
and  West's  battery,  met  just  above  Fort  De  Russy 
the  gunboats  Signal  and  Covington,  and  the  transport 
steamer  Warner,  and  after  a  short  and  hard  fight 
disabled  all  three  of  the  boats.  The  Covington  was 
set  on  fire  by  her  commander  and  destroyed,  but  the 
Signal  33\&  Warner  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Confed 
erates  with  many  of  the  officers  and  men  of  the  three 
boats,  and  of  a  detachment  of  about  250  men  of  the 
56th  Ohio,  on  the  Warner.  These  captured  steamers, 
also,  were  sunk  across  the  channel. 

On  the  2d  of  May,  Franklin's  wound  compelling 
him  to  go  to  New  Orleans  and  presently  to  the  North, 
Banks  assigned  Emory  to  the  command  of  the  Nine 
teenth  Army  Corps.  This  brought  McMillan  to  the 
head  of  the  First  division  and  gave  his  brigade  to 
Beal.  Captain  Frederic  Speed  was  announced  as 
Assistant  Adjutant-General  of  the  Corps.  A  few 
days  later,  in  consequence  of  McClernand's  illness, 
Lawler  was  given  the  command  of  the  Thirteenth 
Corps. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

LAST  DAYS  IN  LOUISIANA. 

ON  the  1 3th  of  May  Banks  marched  from  Alex 
andria  on  Simmesport,  Lawler  leading  the  infantry 
column,  Emory  next,  and  A.  J.  Smith's  divisions  of  the 
Sixteenth  and  Seventeenth  Corps  bringing  up  the 
rear.  As  far  as  Fort  De  Russy  the  march  followed 
the  bank  of  the  river,  with  the'  object  of  covering  the 
withdrawal  of  the  fleet  of  gunboats  and  transports 
against  any  possible  molestation.  Steele's  cavalry 
division  hung  upon  and  harassed  the  rear,  Polignac, 
Major,  and  Bagby  hovered  in  front  and  on  the  flanks, 
while  Harrison  followed  on  the  north  bank  of  the 
Red  River,  but  no  serious  attempt  was  made  to 
obstruct  the  movement.  On  the  afternoon  of  the 
1 5th  the  Confederates  were  seen  in  force  in  front  of 
the  town  of  Marksville,  but  were  soon  driven  off  and 
retired  rapidly  through  the  town. 

On  the  morning  of  the  i6th  of  May  an  event  took 
place,  described  by  all  who  saw  it  as  the  finest  mili 
tary  spectacle  they  ever  witnessed.  On  the  wide  and 
rolling  prairie  of  Avoyelles,  otherwise  known  as  the 
Plains  of  Mansura,  the  Confederates  stood  for 
the  last  time  across  the  line  of  march  of  the  retreat 
ing  army.  As  battery  after  battery  went  into  action 
and  the  cavalry  skirmishers  became  briskly  engaged, 
it  seemed  as  if  a  pitched  battle  were  imminent. 

344 


LAST  DA  YS  IN  LOUISIANA.  345 

The  infantry  rapidly  formed  line  of  battle,  Mower  on 
the  right,  Kilby  Smith  next,  Emory  in  the  centre, 
Lawler  on  the  left,  the  main  body  of  Arnold's  cav 
alry  in  column  on  the  flanks.  Save  where  here  and 
there  the  light  smoke  from  the  artillery  hindered  the 
view,  the  whole  lines  of  both  armies  were  in  plain 
sight  of  every  man  in  either,  but  the  disparity  in 
numbers  was  too  great  to  justify  Taylor  in  making 
more  than  a  handsome  show  of  resistance  on  a  field 
like  this,  where  defeat  was  certain,  and  destruction 
must  have  followed  close  upon  defeat ;  and  so  when 
our  lines  were  advanced  he  prudently  withdrew. 
Banks's  losses  were  small,  but  Lieutenant  Haskin's 
horse-battery  F,  ist  U.  S.,  being  unavoidably  ex 
posed  in  spite  of  its  skilful  handling,  to  a  hot  enfilade 
fire  of  the  Confederate  artillery,  to  cover  their  flank 
movement  in  retreat,  suffered  rather  severely. 

In  the  afternoon  the  troops  halted  for  a  while  on 
the  banks  of  a  little  stream  to  enjoy  the  first  fresh, 
clear  water  they  had  so  much  as  seen  for  many 
weeks.  At  the  sight  the  men  broke  into  cheers,  and 
almost  with  one  accord  rushed  eagerly  to  the  banks  of 
the  rivulet.  That  night  the  army  bivouacked  eight 
miles  from  the  Atchafalaya,  and  early  the  next 
morning,  the  1 7th  of  May,  marched  down  to  the  river 
at  Simmesport,  where  the  transports  and  the  gunboats, 
having  arrived  two  days  earlier,  lay  waiting.  Near 
Moreauville  on  the  i7th  the  rear-guard  of  cavalry 
was  sharply  attacked  by  Wharton  ;  at  the  same  time 
Debray,  lying  in  ambush  with  two  regiments  and  a 
battery,  opened  fire  on  the  flank  of  the  moving  col 
umn.  While  this  was  going  on  the  two  other  regi 
ments  of  Debray  made  a  dash  on  the  wagon-train 
near  the  crossing  of  Yellow  Bayou,  and  threw  it  into 


346  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

some  momentary  confusion.  Neither  of  these  attacks 
were  serious,  and  all  were  easily  thrown  off. 

The  next  day,  the  i8th,  A.  J.  Smith's  command 
was  in  position  near  Yellow  Bayou  to  cover  the  cross 
ing  of  the  Atchafalaya,  and  he  was  himself  at  the 
landing  at  Simmesport,  in  the  act  of  completing  his 
arrangements  for  crossing,  when  Taylor  suddenly 
attacked  with  his  whole  force.  Mower,  who  com 
manded  in  Smith's  absence,  advanced  his  lines  as 
soon  as  he  found  his  skirmishers  coming  in,  and  thus 
brought  on  one  of  the  sharpest  engagements  of  the 
campaign.  With  equal  judgment,  skill,  and  daring, 
Mower  finally  drove  the  Confederates  off  the  field  in 
confusion  and  with  heavy  loss,  and  so  brought  to  a 
brilliant  close  the  part  borne  by  the  gallant  soldiers 
of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  in  their  trying  service 
in  Louisiana.  Mower's  loss  was  38  killed,  226 
wounded,  and  3  missing,  in  all  267.  Taylor  reports 
his  loss  as  about  500,  including  30  killed,  50  severely 
wounded,  and  about  100  prisoners  from  Polignac's 
division.  The  Confederate  returns  account  for  452 
killed  and  wounded. 

At  Simmesport  the  skill  and  readiness  of  Bailey 
were  once  more  put  to  good  use  in  improvising  a 
bridge  of  steamboats  across  the  Atchafalaya.  In  his 
report,  Banks  speaks  of  this  as  the  first  attempt  of 
the  kind,  probably  forgetting,  since  it  did  not  fall 
under  his  personal  observation,  that  when  the  army 
moved  on  Port  Hudson  the  year  before,  the  last  of 
the  troops  and  trains  crossed  the  river  at  the  same 
place  in  substantially  the  same  way.  However,  the 
Atchafalaya  was  then  low  :  it  was  now  swollen  to  a 
width  of  six  hundred  or  seven  hundred  yards  by  the 
back  water  from  the  Mississippi,  and  thus  the  floating 


LAST  DA  YS  IN  LOUISIANA.  347 

bridge,  which  the  year  before  was  made  by  lashing 
together  not  more  than  nine  boats,  with  their  gang 
ways  in  line,  connected  by  means  of  the  gangplanks 
and  rough  boards,  now  required  twenty-two  boats  to 
close  the  gap.  Over  this  bridge,  on  the  igthof  May,  the 
troops  took  up  their  march  in  retreat,  and  so  brought 
the  disastrous  campaign  of  the  Red  River  to  an  end 
just  a  year  after  they  had  begun,  in  the  same  way  and 
on  the  same  spot,  the  triumphant  campaign  of  Port 
Hudson. 

On  the  2Oth  A.  J.  Smith  crossed,  the  bridge  was 
broken  up,  and  in  the  evening  the  whole  army  marched 
for  the  Mississippi.  On  the  2ist,  at  Red  River  land 
ing,  the  Nineteenth  Corps  bade  farewell  to  its  brave 
comrades  of  the  Sixteenth  and  Seventeenth. 

A.  J.  Smith  landed  at  Vicksburg  on  the  23d  of 
May  too  late  for  the  part  assigned  him  in  the  spring 
campaign  of  Sherman's  army,  and  the  operations  on 
the  Mississippi  being  now  reduced  to  the  defensive, 
.he  remained  on  the  banks  of  the  river  until  called  on 
to  repulse  Price's  invasion  of  Missouri.  Then,  having 
handsomely  performed  his  share  of  this  service,  he 
joined  Thomas  just  in  time  to  take  part  in  the  decisive 
battle  of  Nashville. 

At  Simmesport  Banks  was  met  by  Canby,  who  on 
the  nth  of  May,  at  Cairo  or  on  the  way  thence  to 
Memphis,  had  assumed  command  of  the  new-made 
Military  Division  of  West  Mississippi,  in  virtue  of 
orders  from  Washington,  dated  the  7th.  The  Presi 
dent  still  refused  to  yield  to  Grant's  repeated  requests 
that  Banks  might  be  altogether  relieved  from  his 
command,  nor  did  Grant  longer  persist  in  this  ;  accord 
ingly  Banks  remained  the  titular  commander  of  the 
Department  of  the  Gulf,  with  a  junior  officer  present 


348  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

as  his  immediate  superior  and  his  next  subordinate  in 
actual  command  of  his  troops. 

The  Thirteenth  and  Nineteenth  Corps,  the  cavalry, 
and  the  trains  continued  the  march,  under  Emory, 
and  on  the  226.  of  May  went  into  camp  at  Morganza. 

From  the  Arkansas  to  the  Gulf,  from  the  Atchafa- 
laya  to  the  Rio  Grande  there  was  no  longer  a  Union 
soldier,  save  the  insignificant  garrison  kept  at  Brown- 
ville  to  preserve  the  semblance  of  that  foothold  in 
Texas  for  the  sake  of  which  so  much  blood  and 
treasure  had  been  spilled  into  this  sink  of  shame. 

When  Steele's  retreat  to  Little  Rock  had  put  an 
end  to  all  hopes  of  a  successful  pursuit,  Kirby  Smith 
faced  about  and  set  Walker  in  rapid  motion  toward 
Alexandria  with  Churchill  closely  following.  A  day 
or  two  after  Banks  had  left  the  place  Walker  arrived 
at  Alexandria,  too  late  to  do  anything  more  in 
Louisiana. 

Taylor  quarrelled  bitterly  with  Kirby  Smith,  who 
ended  by  ordering  him  to  turn  over  his  command  to 
Walker.  Leaving  a  small  force  to  hold  the  country 
and  to  observe  and  annoy  the  Union  army  of  occupa 
tion  in  Louisiana,  Kirby  Smith  then  gathered  his 
forces,  and  passing  by  Steele's  right  flank,  invaded 
Missouri. 

After  arriving  at  Morganza,  Emory,  by  Canby's 
orders,  put  his  command  in  good  condition  for  de 
fence  or  for  a  movement  in  any  direction  by  sending 
to  other  stations  all  the  troops  except  the  Nineteenth 
Corps  and  the  First  division,  Lawler's,  of  the  Thir 
teenth  Corps,  as  well  as  all  the  extra  animals,  wagons, 
and  baggage  of  the  army.  For  the  sedentary 
defensive,  the  position  at  Morganza  had  many 
advantages,  but  except  that  good  water  for  all  pur- 


LAST  DA  YS  IN  LOUISIANA.  349 

poses  was  to  be  had  in  plenty  for  the  trouble  of 
crossing  the  levee,  the  situation  was  perhaps  the 
most  unfortunate  in  which  the  corps  was  ever  en 
camped.  The  heat  was  oppressive  and  daily  growing 
more  unbearable.  The  rude  shelters  of  bushes  and 
leaves,  cut  fresh  from  the  neighboring  thicket  and 
often  renewed,  gave  little  protection  ;  the  levee  and 
the  dense  undergrowth  kept  off  the  breeze  ;  and  such 
was  the  state  of  the  soil  that  when  it  was  not  a  cloud 
of  light  and  suffocating  dust,  it  was  a  sea  of  fat  black 
mud.  The  sickly  season  was  close  at  hand,  the  field 
and  general  hospitals  were  filled,  and  the  deaths  were 
many.  The  mosquitoes  were  at  their  worst ;  but 
worse  than  all  were  the  six  weeks  of  absolute  idleness, 
broken  only  by  an  occasional  alarm  or  two,  such  as 
led  to  the  brief  expedition  of  Grover's  division  to 
Tunica  and  Natchez. 

At  first  Canby  intended  to  use  the  Nineteenth 
Corps  as  a  sort  of  marine  patrol  or  coast-guard,  with 
its  trains  and  artillery  and  cavalry  reduced  to  the 
lowest  point,  and  the  main  body  of  the  infantry  kept 
always  ready  to  embark  on  a  fleet  of  transports 
specially  assigned  for  the  service  and  to  go  quickly 
to  any  point  up  or  down  the  Mississippi  or  the 
adjacent  waters  that  might  be  menaced  or  attacked 
by  the  enemy.  The  orders  for  the  organization  and 
equipment  of  the  corps  in  this  manner  form  a  model 
of  forethought  and  of  minute  attention  to  detail,  yet  as 
events  turned  out,  they  were  never  put  in  practice. 

Toward  the  end  of  June  the  corps  underwent  at 
the  hands  of  Canby  the  last  of  its  many  reorganiz 
ations.1  The  First  and  Second  divisions  were  left 
substantially  as  they  had  been  during  the  campaign 

1  Begun  about  June  i6th.     The  final  orders  are  dated  June  27th. 


350  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

just  ended,  but  the  Thirteenth  Corps  being  broken 
up,1  seventeen  of  its  best  regiments  were  taken  to 
form  for  the  Nineteenth  Corps  a  new  Third  division, 
under  Lawler.  Emory,  who  was  suffering  from 
the  effects  of  the  climate  and  the  hardships  of 
the  campaign,  had  just  applied  for  leave  of  absence, 
supposing  that  all  idea  of  a  movement  during  the 
summer  was  at  an  end,  and  Canby,  having  granted 
this,  assigned  Reynolds  to  command  the  corps,  to 
which,  in  truth,  his  rank  and  record  entitled  him,  and 
gave  the  First  division,  Emory's  own,  to  Roberts,  a 
total  stranger.  Upon  this,  and  learning  of  the  move 
ment  about  to  be  made,  Emory  at  once  threw  up  his 
leave  of  absence,  and  Reynolds,  noting  with  the  eye 
of  a  soldier  the  deep  and  widespread  disappointment 
among  the  officers  and  men  of  the  corps,  magnani 
mously  persuaded  Canby  to  leave  the  command  of 
the  Nineteenth  Army  Corps,  for  the  time  being,  to 
Emory,  while  Reynolds  himself  commanded  the 
forces  at  Morganza.  The  brigades  of  the  First  divi 
sion  were  commanded  by  Beal,  McMillan,  and  Cur- 
rie.  Grover  kept  the  Second  division  with  Birge, 
Molineux,  and  Sharpe  as  brigade  commanders,  and 
afterwards  a  fourth  brigade  was  added,  made  up  of 
four  regiments  from  the  disbanded  Thirteenth  Corps, 
under  Colonel  David  Shunk  of  the  8th  Indiana,  and 
comprising,  in  addition  to  his  own  regiment,  the  24th 
and  28th  Iowa,  and  the  i8th  Indiana.  At  this  later 
period  also  the  ist  Louisiana  was  taken  from  Moli- 
neux's  brigade  to  remain  in  the  Gulf,  and  its  place 
was  filled  by  the  nth  Indiana  and  the  22d  Iowa. 
Lawler's  new  Third  division  had  Lee,  Cameron, 
and  Colonel  F.  W.  Moore  of  the  83d  Ohio  for  bri- 

1  By  orders  from  Washington,  issued  at  Canby's  request,  June  nth. 


LAST  DA  YS  IN  LOUISIANA.  351 

gade  commanders.  This  was  a  splendid  division,  on 
both  sides  congenial ;  unfortunately  it  was  not  des 
tined  to  see  service  with  the  corps. 

Three  great  reviews  broke  the  torrid  monotony  of 
Morganza.  On  the  nth  of  June  Emory  reviewed 
the  corps  in  a  tropical  torrent,  which  suddenly  de 
scending  drenched  every  man  to  the  skin  and  reduced 
the  field  music  to  discord,  without  interrupting  the 
ceremony.  On  the  i4th  the  troops  again  passed  in 
review  before  Sickles,  who  had  been  sent  to  Louisiana 
on  a  tour  of  inspection,  and  finally  on  the  25th 
Reynolds  reviewed  the  forces  at  Morganza  on  taking 
the  command. 

Grant's  orders  to  Canby  were  the  same  as  those  he 
had  given  to  Banks,  to  go  against  Mobile. 

This  was  indeed  an  integral  and  important,  though 
strictly  subordinate,  part  of  the  comprehensive  plan 
adopted  by  the  lieutenant-general  for  the  spring 
campaign.  Besides  distracting  the  attention  of  the 
Confederates,  and  either  drawing  off  a  large  part  of 
their  forces  from  Sherman's  front  or  else  causing 
them  to  give  up  Mobile  without  a  struggle,  the 
control  of  the  Alabama  River  would  give  Sherman  a 
secure  base  of  supplies  and  a  safe  line  of  retreat  in 
any  contingency,  while  the  occupation  of  a  line  from 
Atlanta  to  Mobile  would,  as  Grant  remarked,  "  once 
more  split  the  Confederacy  in  twain." 

But  while  in  Louisiana  the  troops  stood  still,  await 
ing  the  full  completion  of  Canby 's  exhaustive  prepara 
tions,  elsewhere  events  were  marching  with  great 
rapidity.  On  the  3d  of  June  Grant's  campaign  from 
the  Rappahannock  to  the  James  came  to  an  end  in 
the  bloody  repulse  at  Cold  Harbor,  with  the  loss  of 
12,737  officers  and  men.  On  the  i4th  he  crossed  the 


352  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

James  and  sat  down  before  Petersburg.  In  the  six 
weeks  that  had  passed  since  the  Army  of  the  Poto 
mac  made  its  way  into  the  Wilderness,  Grant  had 
lost  from  the  ranks  of  the  two  armies  of  the  Potomac 
and  the  James  nearly  as  many  men  as  Lee  had  in  the 
Army  of  Northern  Virginia.1 

While  he  was  himself  directing  the  movement  of 
Meade  and  Butler  against  Richmond  and  Petersburg, 
Grant  ordered  Hunter,  who  commanded  in  the 
Shenandoah  Valley,  to  march  by  Charlottesville  on 
Lynchburg,  and  sent  Sheridan,  with  the  cavalry  on  a 
great  raid  to  Charlottesville  to  meet  Hunter  ;  but  Lee 
sent  Early  to  intercept  the  movement,  and  Early, 
moving  with  the  speed  and  promptness  to  which 
Jackson's  old  corps  was  well  used,  got  to  Lynchburg 
in  time  to  head  Hunter  off.  Then  Hunter,  rightly 
deeming  his  position  precarious,  instead  of  retreating 
down  the  valley,  made  his  escape  across  the  mountains 
into  West  Virginia.  This  left  the  gates  of  the  great 
valley  thoroughfare  wide  open  for  Early,  who,  in 
stantly  marching  north,  once  more  invaded  Maryland, 
harried  Pennsylvania,  and  menaced  Washington. 

It  was  at  this  crisis,  when  nothing  was  being 
accomplished  in  Louisiana  and  everything  was  hap 
pening  in  Virginia,  that  Grant  ordered  Canby  to 
put  off  his  designs  on  Mobile  and  to  send  the  Nine 
teenth  Corps  with  all  speed  to  Hampton  Roads.2 

1  From  the  5th  of  May  to  the  I5th  of  June  Meade's  losses  were  51,908,  and 
Butler's  9,234,  together  61,142.     The  best  estimates  give  61,000  to  64,000  as 
Lee's  strength  at  the  Wilderness,  or  78,400  from  the  Rappahannock  to  the 
James. — "  Century  War  Book,"  vol.  iv.,  pp.  182-187. 

2  The  first  suggestion  seems  to  have  come  from  Butler  to  Stanton,  May  2gth, 
Weitzel  concurring.     Grant  disapproved  this  in  a  telegram  dated  3  P.M.,  June 
3d  :  the  second  assault  had  been  made  that  morning.     The  movement  across  the 
James  for  the  surprise  and  seizure  of  Petersburg  came  to  a  stand-still  on  the 
i8th.    On  the  23d  Grant  made  the  request  and  the  orders  were  issued  the  next  day. 


LAST  DA  YS  IN  LOUISIANA.  353 

Canby  understood  this  to  mean  the  First  and  Second 
divisions,  and  placed  Emory  in  command  of  this 
detachment.  On  the  3Oth  of  June  the  two  divisions 
began  moving  down  the  river  to  Algiers,  and  on  the 
3d  of  July  the  advance  steamed  out  of  the  river  into 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico  with  sealed  orders.  When  the 
steamer  Crescent,  which  led  the  way,  carrying  the 
i53d  New  York  and  four  companies  of  the  ii4th, 
had  dropped  her  pilot  outside  of  the  passes,  Davis 
broke  the  seal  and  for  the  first  time  learned  his  desti 
nation.  Within  a  few  days  the  remainder  of  the 
First  division  followed,  without  Roberts,  Emory  ac 
companied  by  the  headquarters  of  the  expedition 
going  on  the  Mississippi  on  the  5th  of  July,  with  the 
30th  Massachusetts,  the  QOth  New  York,  and  the 
1 1 6th  New  York,  but  transferring  himself  at  the 
Southwest  Pass  to  the  Creole,  in  his  impatience  at 
finding  the  Mississippi  aground  and  his  anxiety  to 
come  up  with  the  advance  of  his  troops.  The  Cres 
cent  was  the  first  to  arrive  before  Fortress  Monroe. 
The  last  regiment  of  the  Third  brigade  sailed  on  the 
i  ith.  Grover's  division  began  its  embarkation  about 
the  loth  and  finished  about  the  2Oth. 

In  this  movement  some  of  the  best  regiments  of  the 
corps  were  left  behind,  as  well  as  all  the  cavalry  and 
the  whole  o'f  the  magnificent  park  of  field  artillery. 
Among  the  troops  thus  cut  off  were  the  noth  New 
York,  the  i6ist  New  York,  the  ;th  Vermont,  the 
6th  Michigan,  the  4th  Wisconsin,  the  ist  Indiana 
Heavy  Artillery,  the  ist  Louisiana,  and  the  2d  Louisi 
ana  Mounted  Infantry.  Reynolds  with  the  corps 
headquarters  and  the  new  Third  division  remained 
in  Louisiana.  Since  this  came  from  the  old  Thir 
teenth  Corps,  was  afterwards  incorporated  in  the 
23 


354          THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

new  Thirteenth  Corps,  formed  for  the  siege  of  Mo 
bile,  never  saw  service  in  the  Nineteenth  Corps  and 
nominally  belonged  to  it  but  a  few  days,  and  since 
the  detachment  now  sent  north  was  presently  consti 
tuted  the  Nineteenth  Corps,  the  title  of  the  corps 
will  hereafter  be  used  in  this  narrative  when  speaking 
of  the  services  of  the  First  and  Second  divisions. 

On  the  1 4th  of  June  Major  William  H.  Sentell,  of 
the  i6oth  New  York,  was  detailed  by  Emory  as 
acting  assistant  inspector-general  of  the  corps,  and 
Captain  Henry  C.  Inwood,  of  the  i65th  New  York,1 
as  provost  marshal. 

To  regret  leaving  the  lowlands  of  Louisiana  at  this 
sickly  season,  the  poisonous  swamps,  the  filthy  water, 
the  overpowering  heat,  and  the  intolerable  mosqui 
toes,  was  impossible  ;  yet  there  can  have  been  no  man 
in  all  that  host  that  did  not  feel,  as  the  light,  cool 
breezes  of  the  Gulf  fanned  his  brow,  a  swelling  of  the 
heart  and  a  tightness  of  the  throat  at  the  thought  of 
all  that  he  had  seen  and  suffered,  and  the  remem 
brance  of  the  many  thousands  of  his  less  fortunate 
comrades  who  had  succumbed  to  the  dangers  and 
trials  on  which  he  himself  was  now  turning  his  back 
for  the  last  time. 

1  In  the  official  records  wrongly  printed  as  the  i6oth. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

ON    THE    POTOMAC. 

GRANT  had  meant  to  send  the  corps  to  join  the 
Army  of  the  James  under  Butler  at  Bermuda  Hun 
dred,  but  already  the  dust  of  Early's  columns  was  in 
sight  from  the  hills  behind  Washington,  and  the 
capital,  though  fully  fortified,  being  practically  with 
out  defenders,  until  the  Sixth  Corps  should  come  to 
the  rescue,  in  the  stress  of  the  moment  the  detach 
ments  of  the  Nineteenth  Corps  were  hurried  up  the 
Potomac  as  fast  as  the  transports  entered  the  roads. 
It  was  noon  on  the  nth  when  Davis  landed  the 
fourteen  companies  from  the  Crescent  at  the  wharves 
of  Washington,  where  he  found  orders  to  occupy  and 
hold  Fort  Saratoga.1 

At  the  hour  when  Davis  was  disembarking  at  the 
southern  end  of  Sixth  Street  wharf,  Early's  head 
quarters  were  at  Silver  Spring,  barely  five  miles  away 
to  the  northward,  and  his  skirmishers  were  drawing 
within  range  of  the  guns  of  Fort  Stevens.  Behind 
the  defences  of  Washington  there  were  but  twenty 
thousand  soldiers  of  all  sorts.  Of  these  less  than 
half  formed  the  garrison  of  the  works,  and  even 
of  this  fraction  nearly  all  were  raw,  undisciplined, 
uninstructed,  and  lacking  the  simplest  knowledge 

1  About  three  miles  N.-N.-E.  from  the  Capitol,   overlooking  the  Baltimore 
road  and  railway. 

355 


356  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

of  the  ground  they  were  to  defend.  But  five  days 
before  this,  Grant  had  taken  Ricketts  from  the  lines 
of  the  Sixth  Corps  before  Petersburg,  and  sent  him 
by  water  to  Baltimore,  whence  his  superb  veterans 
were  carried  by  rail  to  the  Monocacy  just  in  time 
to  enable  Wallace,  with  a  chance  medley  of  garri 
sons  and  emergency  men,  to  face  Early  on  the  9th, 
and  compel  him  to  lose  a  day  in  crossing.  Then, 
at  last,  made  quite  certain  of  Early's  true  position 
and  plans,  Grant  hurried  the  rest  of  the  Sixth  Corps 
to  the  relief  of  Washington,  and  thus  the  steamboat 
bearing  the  advance  of  Wright's  men  touched  the 
wharf  about  two  hours  after  the  Crescent  had  made 
fast.  The  guns  of  Fort  Stevens  were  already  heard 
shelling  the  approaches,  and  thither  Wright  was  at 
once  directed,  but  in  the  great  heat  and  dust  Early 
had  pressed  on  so  fast  that  his  men  arrived  before  the 
works  parched  with  thirst  and  panting  with  exhaust 
ion.  Moreover,  evening  came  before  the  rear  of  his 
column  had  closed  up  on  the  front,  and  during  these 
critical  hours  Wright's  strong  divisions  of  the  veterans 
of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  lined  the  works  and 
stood  stiffly  across  the  path,  while  in  supporting  dis 
tance  to  the  eastward  was  the  little  handful  from  the 
Gulf.  Early,  who  had  seen  something  of  this  and 
imagined  more,  waited,  and  so  his  opportunity,  great 
or  little,  went.  On  the  afternoon  of  the  next  day, 
the  T2th  of  July,  Early  still  not  attacking,  Wright 
sent  out  a  brigade  and  roughly  pushed  back  the  Con 
federate  advance.  Then  Early,  realizing  that  he  had 
not  an  hour  to  lose  in  extricating  his  command  from 
its  false  position,  fell  back  at  night  on  Rockville. 

On  the  1 3th  of  July  the  Clinton  arrived  at  Wash 
ington  with  the   29th   Maine  and  part  of  the  i3th 


ON  THE  POTOMAC.  357 

Maine,  the  St.  Mary  with  the  8th  Vermont,  the 
Corinthian  with  the  remaining  six  companies  of 
the  1 1 4th  New  York,  the  Mississippi  with  the  QOth 
and  1 1 6th  New  York  and  the  3Oth  Massachusetts, 
the  Creole  with  the  47th  Pennsylvania.  As  the  de 
tachments  landed  they  were  hurried,  in  most  instances 
by  long  and  needless  circuits  to  Tennallytown,  where 
they  found  themselves  at  night  without  supplies  or 
wagons,  without  orders,  and  without  much  organi 
zation. 

Now  that  the  enemy  had  gone  and  there  were 
enough  troops  in  Washington,  the  capital  was  once 
more  a  wild  confusion  of  commands  and  commanders, 
such  as  seems  to  have  prevailed  at  every  important 
crisis  during  the  war.  Out  of  this  Grant  brought 
order  by  assigning  Wright  to  conduct  the  pursuit  of 
Early.  When,  therefore,  on  the  morning  of  the  i3th, 
Wright  found  Early  gone  from  his  front,  he  marched 
after  him  with  the  Sixth  Corps,  and  ordered  the 
detachment  of  the  Nineteenth  Corps  to  follow. 
Grant  wished  Wright  to  push  on  to  Edwards  Ferry 
to  cut  off  Early' s  retreat  across  the  Potomac.  At 
nightfall  Wright  was  at  Offutt's  Cross-Roads,  with 
Russell  and  Getty  of  the  Sixth  Corps,  the  handful 
of  the  Nineteenth  Corps,  and  the  cavalry. 

About  3,600  men  of  Emory's  division  had  landed 
at  Washington  during  the  i2th  and  i3th  of  July, 
increasing  the  effective  force  of  the  Nineteenth  Corps 
to  about  4,200,  most  of  whom  spent  the  night  in  fol 
lowing  the  windings  of  the  road  that  marks  the  long 
outline  of  the  northern  fortifications.  On  the  morning 
of  the  1 4th,  the  roll-call  accounted  for  192  officers  and 
2,987  men  of  the  corps,  representing  ten  regiments, 
in  the  bivouacs  that  lay  loosely  scattered  about  Ten- 


358  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

nallytown.  On  the  i4th  these  detachments  marched 
ten  miles  and  encamped  beyond  Offutt's  Cross-Roads, 
where  they  were  joined  by  Battery  L  of  the  ist  Ohio, 
temporarily  lent  to  the  division  from  the  artillery 
reserve  of  the  defences  of  Washington.  Emory  him 
self  arrived  during  the  day  and  assumed  command  of 
the  division,  and  Dwight,  relieved  from  duty  as 
Banks's  chief  of  staff,  came  in  the  evening  to  rejoin 
the  ist  brigade.  Gilmore,  who  found  himself  in 
Washington  without  assignment,  had  been  given  com 
mand  of  the  Nineteenth  Corps,  but  happening  to 
sprain  his  foot  badly  he  was  obliged  to  go  off  duty 
after  having  held  the  assignment  nominally  for  less 
than  a  day.  Thereupon  Emory  once  more  took  com 
mand  of  the  corps,  and  the  First  division  fell  to 
Dwight. 

Moving  by  the  river  road,  Wright,  with  Getty's 
division,  was  at  Poolesville  on  the  night  of  the  I4th, 
with  the  last  of  the  Nineteenth  Corps  eleven  miles  in 
the  rear.  But  Early  had  already  made  good  his 
escape,  having  crossed  the  Potomac  that  morning  at 
White's  Ford,  with  all  his  trains  and  captures  intact, 
while  Wright  was  still  south  of  Seneca  Creek. 

The  next  day  Emory  closed  up  on  Getty  at  Pooles 
ville,  and  Halleck  began  sending  the  rest  of  the  Sixth 
Corps  there  to  join  Wright. 

In  the  Union  army  the  impression  now  prevailed 
that  Early,  having  accomplished  the  main  object  of 
his  diversion  would,  as  usual,  hasten  to  rejoin  Lee  at 
Richmond.  Wright,  therefore,  got  ready  to  go  back 
to  Washington,  but  Early  was  in  fact  at  Leesburg, 
and  word  came  that  Hunter,  whose  forces  were  be 
ginning  to  arrive  at  Harper's  Ferry,  after  their  long 
and  wide  excursion  over  the  Alleghanies  and  through 


ON  THE  POTOMAC.  359 

West  Virginia,  had  sent  Sullivan's  division  across  the 
Potomac  at  Berlin  to  Hillsborough,  where  it  threat 
ened  Early's  flank  and  rear  while  exposing  its  own. 
Therefore  Wright  felt  obliged  to  cross  to  the  support 
of  Hunter,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  i6th  of  July 
the  Sixth  Corps,  followed  by  Emory's  detachment  of 
the  Nineteenth,  waded  the  Potomac  at  White's  Ford 
and  encamped  at  Clark's  Gap,  three  miles  beyond 
Leesburg.  But  Early,  by  turns  bold  and  wary,  slipped 
away  between  Wright  and  Hunter,  marched  through 
Snicker's  Gap,  and  put  the  Shenandoah  between 
him  and  his  enemies.  Caution  had  been  enjoined  on 
the  pursuit,  and  the  1 7th  was  spent  in  closing  up  and 
reconnoitring.  On  the  i8th  the  combined  forces 
of  Wright  and  Hunter  marched  through  Snicker's 
Gap,  and  in  the  afternoon  Crook,  who,  having 
brought  up  his  own  division,  found  himself  in  com 
mand  of  Hunter's  troops,  sent  Thoburn  across  the 
Shenandoah  below  Snicker's  Ferry  to  seize  and  hold 
the  ferry  for  the  passage  of  the  army ;  but  when 
Thoburn  had  gained  the  north  bank  Early  fell  upon 
him  with  three  divisions  and  drove  him  back  across 
the  river  with  heavy  loss.  Instead  of  risking  any 
thing  more  in  the  attempt  to  force  the  crossing  in  the 
face  of  Early's  whole  force  in  position,  Wright  was 
meditating  a  turning  movement  by  way  of  Keyes's 
Gap,  but  Duffie,  after  riding  hard  through  Ashby's 
Gap  and  crossing  the  Shenandoah  at  Berry's  Ferry, 
likewise  came  to  grief  on  the  north  bank,  and  so  the 
day  of  the  igih  of  July  was  lost. 

Meanwhile  Hunter,  having  seen  nearly  all  the  rest 
of  his  army  arrive  at  Harper's  Ferry,  sent  a  brigade 
and  a  half  under  Hayes  to  march  straight  up  the 
Shenandoah  to  Snicker's  Ferry,  while  Averell  with  a 


360  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

mixed  force  of  cavalry  and  infantry  was  sweeping 
down  from  Martinsburg  on  Winchester.  Thus  men 
aced  in  front,  flank,  and  rear,  Early,  on  the  night  of 
the  i Qth  of  July,  retreated  on  Strasburg. 

The  next  morning  Wright  crossed  the  Shenandoah, 
meaning  to  move  toward  Winchester,  but  when  he 
learned  where  Early  had  gone  he  recrossed  the  river 
in  the  evening,  marched  by  night  to  Leesburg,  and 
encamped  on  Goose  Creek,  presently  crossing  to  the 
south  bank.  On  the  morning  of  the  22d  Wright 
marched  on  Washington,  the  Sixth  Corps  leading, 
followed  by  the  Nineteenth.  On  the  afternoon  of 
the  23d  Emory  crossed  the  chain  bridge  and  went 
into  bivouac  on  the  high  ground  overlooking  the 
Potomac  near  Battery  Vermont.  So  ended  the 
"  Snicker's  Gap  war." 

During  this  expedition  Kenly's  brigade  of  the 
Eighth  Corps  served  with  the  Nineteenth. 

As  soon  as  Early's  withdrawal  from  Maryland  had 
quieted  all  apprehensions  for  the  safety  of  Washing 
ton,  the  orders  that  had  met  the  advance  of  the 
Nineteenth  Corps  at  Hampton  Roads  were  recalled, 
and,  reverting  to  his  original  intention,  Grant  sent  the 
detachments  of  the  corps  as  they  arrived  up  the  James 
River  to  Bermuda  Hundred  to  join  the  right  wing  of 
his  armies  under  Butler.  Indeed,  at  the  moment  of 
its  arrival  at  Poolesville,  the  First  division  had  been 
ordered  to  take  the  same  destination,  but  this  the 
movements  of  the  contending  armies  prevented. 
The  first  of  the  troops  to  land  at  Bermuda  Hundred 
was  the  i5th  Maine  on  the  i;th  of  July.  It  was 
at  once  sent  to  the  right  of  the  lines  before  Peters 
burg,  and  within  the  next  ten  days  there  were  assem 
bled  there  parts  of  four  brigades — McMillan's  and 


ON  THE  POTOMAC.  361 

Currie's  of  the  First  division,  and  Birge's  and 
Molineux's  of  Grover's.  Part  of  Currie's  brigade  was 
engaged,  under  Hancock,  in  the  affair  at  Deep  Bottom 
on  the  north  bank  of  the  James  on  the  25th  of  July, 
losing  eighteen  killed  and  wounded  and  twenty-four 
prisoners.  The  work  and  duty  in  the  trenches  and 
on  the  skirmishing  line  were  hard  and  constant,  re 
minding  the  men  of  their  days  and  nights  before 
Port  Hudson,  but  this  was  not  to  last  long,  and  the 
loss  was  light.1 

On  the  2Oth  of  July  at  Carter's  Farm,  three  miles 
north  of  Winchester,  Averell,  who  was  following 
Early,  met  and  routed  Ramseur,  who  had  been  sent 
back  to  check  the  pursuit.  Early  continued  his  re 
treat  to  Strasburg  on  the  22d,  but  when  the  next 
day  he  learned  that  Wright  was  gone,  he  turned 
back  to  punish  the  weak  force  under  Hunter,  and 
on  the  24th  overwhelmed  Crook  at  Kernstown. 
Crook  retreated  through  Martinsburg  into  Maryland, 
and  marching  by  Williamsport  and  Boonsborough, 
took  post  at  Sharpsburg,  while  Averell  stayed 
at  Hagerstown  to  watch  the  upper  fords  of  the 
Potomac. 

To  break  up  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  railway  and 
to  ravage  the  borders  of  Pennsylvania  were  favorite 
ideas  with  Early.  He  now  entered  with  zest  on  the 
unopposed  gratification  of  both  desires,  and  while  he 

1  In  Major  William  F.  Tiemann's  truly  admirable  "  History  of  theisgth  New 
York,"  he  says:  "July  26th  we  were  camped  near  Major-General  Birney's 
headquarters,  not  far  from  Hatcher's  house  between  batteries  '  five '  and  '  six,' 
one  of  which  enjoyed  the  euphonious  title  of  '  Fort  Slaughter.'  .  .  .  The 
works  were  built  more  strongly  and  with  more  art  than  at  Port  Hudson,  but 
were  not  nearly  as  strong  in  reality,  as  Port  Hudson  was  fortified  naturally  and 
the  obstructions  were  much  harder  to  overcome."  (P.  87.)  I  think  this  book 
a  model  of  everything  that  a  regimental  history  ought  to  be  ;  above  all,  for  the 
rare  gifts  of  modesty  and  accuracy. 


362  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

himself  bestrode  the  railway  at  Martinsburg  with  his 
army  engaged  in  its  destruction,  he  sent  McCausland 
with  his  own  brigade  of  cavalry  and  Bradley  Johnson's 
on  the  famous  marauding  expedition  that  culminated 
in  the  wanton  burning  of  Chambersburg  in  default  of 
an  impossible  ransom,  and  at  last  resulted  in  the  flight 
of  McCausland's  whole  force,  with  Averell  at  his  heels, 
and  its  ultimate  destruction  or  dispersion  by  Averell, 
after  a  long  chase,  at  Moorefield  far  up  the  south 
branch  of  the  Potomac. 

When  on  the  23d  of  July  he  saw  Wright  back 
at  Washington  and  Early  at  Strasburg  in  retreat,  as 
was  imagined,  up  the  valley,  Grant  partly  changed  his 
mind  about  recalling  the  troops  he  had  spared  for  the 
defence  of  Washington,  and  determining  to  content 
himself  with  Wright's  corps,  directed  Emory  to  stay 
where  he  was.  Emory  now  had  253  officers  and  5,320 
men  for  duty. 

As  one  turn  of  the  wheel  had  given  the  Nineteenth 
Corps  to  Butler,  restoring  to  his  command  some  of 
the  regiments  that  had  gone  with  him  to  the  capture 
of  New  Orleans,  so  the  next  turn  was  to  bring  the 
corps  under  Augur,  who  since  leaving  Louisiana  had 
been  in  command  of  the  department  of  Washington. 
So  at  least  run  the  orders  of  the  23d  of  July,  yet 
hardly  had  Emory  reported  his  division  to  Augur, 
when  the  whole  arrangement  was  suddenly  broken 
up,  and  the  army  that  had  just  marched  back  to 
Washington  with  Wright  was  once  more  hurried  off 
to  meet  what  was  supposed  to  be  a  fresh  invasion  by 
Early.  In  fact  Early  was  quietly  reposing  at  Bunker 
Hill,  where  he  easily  commanded  the  approaches  and 
debouches  of  the  Shenandoah  valley,  the  fords  of  the 
Potomac,  from  Harper's  Ferry  to  Williamsport,  and 


ON  THE  POTOMAC.  363 

the  whole  line  of  the  railway  across  the  great  bend  of 
the  Potomac. 

By  this  time  Grant  had  found  out  that  it  often  took 
twenty-four  hours  to  communicate  with  Washington 
by  telegraph,  and  that  it  was  consequently  impossible 
to  control  from  the  James  the  movements  of  his  forces 
on  the  upper  Potomac.  On  his  suggesting  this,  the 
government  confided  to  Halleck  the  direction  of 
Wright's  operations  against  Early.  The  Sixth  Corps 
marched  from  Tennallytown  on  the  morning  of  the 
26th  of  July,  and  immediately  afterwards  the  Nine 
teenth  Corps  broke  up  its  camp  near  the  chain  bridge 
and  followed  the  Sixth.  The  line  of  march  followed 
the  road  to  Rockville,  where  Wright  divided  the 
column,  sending  a  detachment  to  the  left  by  way  of 
Poolesville,  while  the  main  body  pursued  the  direct 
road  towards  Frederick.  Emory  encamped  that  night 
on  the  Frederick  road,  four  miles  north  of  Rockville, 
after  a  march  of  nineteen  miles.  The  next  day,  the 
27th  of  July,  Emory,  leading  the  column,  marched  at 
three  in  the  morning,  moved  fifteen  miles,  and  en 
camped  beyond  Hyattstown.  On  the  28th  Emory 
took  the  road  at  five,  marched  to  Monocacy  Junction, 
where  the  Sixth  Corps  crossed  the  Monocacy,  then 
filed  to  the  right,  and  crossed  at  the  upper  ford,  and 
passing  through  Frederick  went  into  bivouac  four 
miles  beyond.  The  distance  made  was  thirteen 
miles.  On  the  2Qth,  an  intensely  hot  day,  Emory 
marched  at  eight,  following  the  Sixth  Corps,  crossed 
the  Potomac  at  Harper's  Ferry,  marched  nineteen 
miles,  and  went  into  bivouac  at  Halltown.  Here 
Wright  was  joined  by  Crook,  who  came  from  Sharps- 
burg  by  way  of  Shepherdstown. 

It  was  on  the  3Oth  of  July  that  McCausland  burned 


364  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

Chambersburg.  In  the  confusion  caused  by  his  rapid 
movements,  Halleck  imagined  that  Early's  whole 
force  was  in  Pennsylvania.  Therefore  he  ordered 
Wright  back  into  Maryland,  first  to  Frederick  and 
then  to  Emmettsburg,  to  hold  the  passes  of  the  South 
Mountain  against  the  supposed  invader.  About 
noon  Wright  faced  about,  taking  Crook  with  him, 
and  recrossed  the  Potomac.  Toward  evening  Crook 
and  Wright  covered  the  passes,  while  Emory  crossed 
the  Catoctin  and  at  one  in  the  morning  of  the  3ist 
halted  near  Jefferson  after  a  hard  day's  march  of 
thirteen  miles,  during  which  the  men  and  animals  of 
all  the  corps  suffered  terribly  from  the  heat  and  dust, 
added  to  the  accumulated  fatigue  they  had  already 
undergone  from  a  succession  of  long  days  and  short 
nights.  Reveille  was  sounded  at  five  o'clock,  and  at 
six  the  march  was  resumed.  Emory  passed  through 
Frederick,  moved  about  two  miles  on  the  Emmetts 
burg  road  and  went  into  bivouac,  having  made  thir 
teen  miles  during  the  day.  The  army  was  now 
concentrated  at  Frederick,  holding  the  line  of  the 
Monocacy  and  observing  the  passes  of  the  South 
Mountain.  Fortunately  for  the  men  and  horses, 
Halleck  now  learned  from  Couch,  who  commanded 
in  Pennsylvania  with  rather  less  than  a  handful  of 
troops,  the  exact  dimensions  of  McCausland's  raid. 
Accordingly  Wright's  troops  were  allowed  to  rest 
where  they  were. 

Grant  ordered  up  a  division  of  cavalry  from  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac,  and  on  the  4th  of  August  set 
out  in  person  for  Frederick,  avoiding  Washington,  to 
see  for  himself  just  what  the  situation  was,  and  to  make 
better  arrangements  for  the  future.  On  the  5th  of 
August  he  joined  Hunter  on  the  Monocacy,  and  at 


ON  THE  POTOMAC.  365 

once  ordered  him  to  take  Wright,  Emory,  and  Crook 
across  the  Potomac,  to  find  the  enemy,  and  to  attack 
him. 

Grover's  division  and  the  parts  of  Emory's  that 
had  been  at  Bermuda  Hundred  embarked  on  the 
James  on  the  3ist  of  July,  and  passed  up  the  Poto 
mac  to  Washington,  but  too  late  to  join  Emory  on  the 
Monocacy.  Thus,  before  beginning  the  new  move 
ment,  Emory  had  of  his  own  division  4,600  effective 
and  eight  regiments  of  Grover's,  numbering  2,750. 
These,  being  parts  of  four  brigades,  were  temporarily 
organized  into  two,  and  as  Grover  himself  had  not 
yet  joined,  their  command  was  given  to  Molineux. 

About  this  time,  Battery  L,  ist  Ohio,  was  relieved 
from  duty  with  the  Nineteenth  Corps,  and  four  other 
batteries  joined  it  from  the  reserve  park  at  Washing 
ton.  Of  these  Taft's  5th  New  York  was  assigned  to 
the  First  division,  Bradbury's  ist  Maine,  an  old  friend, 
to  the  Second  division,  Lieutenant  Chase's  D,  ist 
Rhode  Island  and  Miner's  lyth  Indiana  to  the  Artil 
lery  Reserve,  commanded  at  first  by  Captain  Taft, 
afterward  by  Major  Bradbury. 

Crook  led  the  way  across  the  Potomac  at  Harper's 
Ferry  on  the  evening  of  the  5th  of  August,  Emory 
followed  the  next  morning,  and  Ricketts  with  the 
Sixth  Corps  brought  up  the  rear.  Averell  with  the 
cavalry,  as  will  be  remembered,  was  still  far  away, 
engaged  in  the  long  chase  after  McCausland.  Hun 
ter  took  up  his  position  covering  Halltown  and  pro 
ceeded  to  strengthen  it  by  entrenchments.  Crook's 
left  rested  on  the  Shenandoah,  Emory  extended  the 
line  to  the  turnpike  road,  and  Wright  carried  it  to 
the  Potomac. 

On   the   very   day   Grant   left    City    Point,  Early 


366  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

marched  north  from  Bunker  Hill,  meaning  to  cover 
McCausland's  retreat  and  to  destroy  Hunter,  and 
so,  curiously  enough,  it  happened  that  Early's  whole 
army  actually  crossed  the  Potomac  into  Maryland  at 
Martinsburg  and  Shepherdstown  a  few  hours  before 
Crook  passed  over  the  ford  at  Harper's  Ferry  into  Vir 
ginia  ;  and,  still  more  curiously,  while,  ten  days  before, 
the  groundless  apprehension  of  another  invasion  by 
Early  had  thrown  the  North  into  a  fever  and  the 
government  into  a  fright,  here  was  Early  actually  in 
Maryland  on  the  battle-field  of  Antietam  without 
producing  so  much  as  a  sensation.  As  soon  as 
Early  got  the  first  inkling  of  what  was  going  on 
behind  him,  he  tripped  briskly  back  to  Martinsburg, 
and  finding  Hunter  at  Halltown  resumed  his  old 
position  at  Bunker  Hill. 

Grant  had  already  proposed  to  unite  in  a  single 
command  the  four  distinct  departments  covering  the 
theatre  of  war  on  the  Shenandoah  and  on  the  upper 
Potomac  ;  as  the  commander  he  had  first  suggested 
Franklin  and  afterward  Meade.  Now,  since  no  action 
had  followed  either  suggestion,  he  sent  up  Sheridan, 
meaning  to  place  him  in  command  of  all  the  active 
forces  of  these  four  departments,  for  the  purpose  of 
overthrowing  Early  or  expelling  him  from  the  Shen 
andoah.  Upon  learning  this,  Hunter,  to  remove  the 
difficulty,  asked  to  be  relieved  ;  and  thus,  on  the  7th 
of  August,  Grant  gained  his  wish,  and  an  order  was 
issued  by  the  War  Department,  creating  the  Middle 
Military  Division,  to  include  Washington,  Virginia, 
West  Virginia,  Maryland,  Pennsylvania,  and  part  of 
Ohio,  and  Sheridan  was  assigned  to  the  command. 

Amusing  though  it  may  have  been  to  Early  and 
his  followers  to  note  the  panic  and  confusion  into 


ON  THE  POTOMAC.  367 

which  McCausland's  predatory  riders  once  more 
threw  the  capital  and  the  border  States,  this  absurd 
freak  produced  far-reaching  consequences  that  were 
not  in  the  thoughts  of  any  one  on  either  side.  Its 
first  effect  was  to  stop  the  withdrawal  of  the  Sixth 
Corps,  and  to  put  Wright  and  Emory  once  more  in 
march  toward  the  Shenandoah.  It  determined  Lee 
to  keep  Early  in  the  valley,  where  his  presence 
seemed  so  effective ;  and  this  shortly  led  to  the  con 
centration  there,  under  a  single  commander,  and  that 
commander  Sheridan,  of  the  largest  and  best  appointed 
Union  army  that  had  ever  occupied  that  theatre  of 
war,  and  thus  at  last  in  one  short  campaign  worked 
the  destruction  of  Early's  army  and  the  elimination 
of  the  valley  as  a  feature  in  the  war. 

Upon  the  officers  and  men  of  the  Nineteenth 
Corps  the  change  from  the  enervating  climate  of 
Louisiana  to  the  bracing  air,  the  crystal  waters,  the 
rolling  wheatfields,  and  the  beautiful  blue  mountains 
of  the  Shenandoah  acted  like  a  tonic.  Daily  their 
spirits  rose  and  their  numbers  for  duty  increased. 
The  excellence  of  the  roads  and  the  openness  of  the 
country  on  either  side  enabled  them  to  achieve  long 
marches  with  ease  and  comfort.  Nor  were  they  slow 
in  remarking  that  they  had  never  had  a  commissary 
and  quartermaster  so  good  as  Sheridan. 


CHAPTER    XXXI. 
IN  THE   SHENANDOAH. 

THE  fourth  year  of  the  war  was  now  well  advanced, 
and  the  very  name  of  the  Shenandoah  valley  had 
long  since  passed  into  a  byword  as  the  Valley  of 
Humiliation,  so  often  had  those  fair  and  fertile  fields 
witnessed  the  rout  of  the  national  forces  ;  so  often 
had  the  armies  of  the  Union  marched  proudly  up  the 
white  and  dusty  turnpike,  only  to  come  flying  back 
in  disorder  and  disgrace.  With  the  same  rough 
humor  of  the  soldier,  half  in  grim  jest,  half  in  sad 
earnest,  yet  always  a  grain  of  hard  sense  lying  at  the 
bottom,  the  Union  veterans  had  re-named  as  Harper  s 
Weekly  the  picturesque  landscape  that  appeared  to 
them  so  regularly  ;  and  Lee's  annual  invasion  of  the 
country  beyond  the  Potomac  had  come  to  be 
known  among  them  as  the  Summer  Excursion  and 
Picnic  into  Maryland. 

To  mete  out  the  blame  for  this  state  of  things  ;  to 
apportion  the  precise  share  of  the  mortifying  result 
due  to  each  one  of  several  contributing  causes ;  to 
show  how  much  should  be  ascribed  to  division  and 
subdivision  of  councils  ;  how  much  to  the  unfitness  of 
commanders,  too  often  disqualified  alike  by  nature 
and  training,  for  the  leadership  of  men  in  emergen 
cies,  or  even  for  their  temporary  profession,  and 
in  truth  owing  their  commissions,  in  Halleck's  phrase, 

368 


SHENANDOAH  VALLEY  CAMPAIGN. 

FROM   MAJOR  W.  F.  TIEMANN'S  "HISTORY  OF  THE  159TH   NEW  YORK.' 


IN  THE  SHENANDOAH.  369 

to  "reasons  other  than  military;"  and  how  much 
finally  to  a  dense  ignorance  or  a  fine  disregard  of 
the  very  elements  and  first  principles  of  the  art  of 
war  :  all  this  lies  outside  of  the  scope  of  this  history, 
curious,  entertaining,  and  instructive  though  the 
inquiry  would  be.  Certain  it  is  that  at  no  period 
was  the  problem  at  once  comprehended  and  con 
trolled  until  Grant  took  it  in  hand,  and  equally  so 
that  the  work  was  never  done  until  he  confided  it 
to  Sheridan.  To  this,  in  fairness,  must  be  added 
three  considerations  of  great  moment.  No  com 
mander  had  previously  enjoyed  the  undivided  con 
fidence  of  the  government  as  Grant  did  at  this  period  ; 
the  relations  between  Grant  and  Sheridan  were  those 
of  perfect  trust  and  harmony ;  and  the  Army  of  the 
Shenandoah  was  for  the  first  time  made  strong 
enough  for  its  work.  Moreover,  though  Early  was 
a  good  and  useful  general,  and  was  soon  to  prove 
himself  the  master  of  resources  and  resolution  equal 
to  the  occasion,  he  was  not  Jackson  ;  and  even  had 
he  been,  no  second  Jackson  could  ever  have  fallen 
heir  to  the  prestige  of  the  first. 

The  parallel  ranges  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  extending 
from  the  head-waters  of  the  James  to  the  Susque- 
hanna  in  mid-course,  presented  peculiar  strategic  con 
ditions  of  which  the  Confederates  were  as  quick  as 
the  government  of  the  United  States  was  slow  to 
take  advantage.  Rising  in  the  southwest,  the  twin 
forks  of  the  Shenandoah,  wedged  apart  by  the  long 
and  narrow  range,  or  rather  ranges,  known  as  the 
Massanutten,  unite  near  Front  Royal,  where  the 
valley  begins  to  widen  to  a  plain,  and  pour  their 
waters  into  the  Potomac  at  Harper's  Ferry.  Of  the 
two  valleys  thus  formed,  the  easternmost,  through 


370  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

which  runs  the  South  Fork,  takes  the  name  of  Luray, 
or,  in  local  usage,  Page,  from  its  chief  county,  while 
the  more  western  and  more  important,  in  the  lap  of 
which  lies  the  North  Fork,  preserves  the  name  of 
Shenandoah,  as  well  for  the  river  as  the  county. 
Through  this  valley  lies  the  course  of  the  great 
macadamized  highway  that  before  the  days  of  steam 
formed  the  chief  avenue  of  communication  between 
Pennsylvania  and  Virginia.  Soon  after  the  valley 
begins  to  widen,  beyond  Strasburg  and  Front  Royal, 
the  Opequon  takes  its  rise  in  the  western  range,  here 
known  as  Little  North  Mountain,  and,  flowing 
northeast,  falls  into  the  Potomac  below  Williamsport. 
The  Cumberland  valley  continues  the  valley  of  Vir 
ginia  into  Pennsylvania,  the  two  being  separated  by 
the  Potomac,  which  in  this  part  of  its  course  is  usually 
fordable  at  many  points.  Topography  was  by  no 
means  Grant's  strong  suit,  yet  he  was  not  long  in 
perceiving  that  the  southwesterly  trend  of  this  great 
valley  led  and  must  always  lead  an  invading  column 
at  every  step  farther  away,  not  only  from  its  base  on 
the  Potomac,  but  practically  also  from  its  objective  at 
Richmond.  Wherefore  this  zone  was  useless  to  the 
armies  of  the  Union,  while  for  the  Confederates  it 
had  the  triple  advantage  of  a  granary,  an  easy  and 
secure  way  into  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania,  and  on 
the  flank  toward  Washington  a  mountain  wall,  cut  by 
numerous  gaps,  of  equal  convenience  in  advance  or 
retreat,  besides  being  a  constant  menace  to  Wash 
ington  as  well  as  to  the  Union  army  operating  between 
the  Blue  Ridge  and  the  Potomac.  Thus  it  was  that 
the  Confederate  force  was  able  to  move  speedily  and 
unobserved  to  the  north  bank  of  the  Potomac  at 
Williamsport,  and  there,  ninety  miles  north  of  Wash- 


IN  THE  SHENANDOAH.  371 

ington,  equally  distant  from  Baltimore  and  from 
Washington,  and  actually  nearer  to  the  Susquehanna 
than  the  capital  is,  held  the  whole  country  at  its 
mercy  until  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  could  be 
hurried  to  the  rescue. 

Grant's  first  orders  to  Sheridan  were  twofold  :  he 
was  to  move  south  by  the  valley,  no  matter  where 
Early  might  be,  or  what  he  might  be  doing,  in  full 
confidence  that  Early  would  surely  be  found  in  his 
front ;  and  he  was  to  devastate  the  valley  so  far  as  to 
destroy  its  future  usefulness  as  a  granary  and  a  store 
house  of  the  Confederate  army  of  Northern  Virginia. 

Following  the  instructions  turned  over  to  him  by 
Hunter,  Sheridan  moved  out  from  Halltown  on  the 
loth  of  August,  and  marching  through  Charlestown, 
took  up  a  position  threatening  the  crossing  of  the 
Opequon  and  Early's  communications  at  Winchester. 
Crook,  on  the  left,  rested  on  Berryville,  Emory  held 
the  centre,  and  Wright  prolonged  the  line  to  Clifton. 
Torbert  covered  the  right  flank  at  Summit  Point, 
which  lies  eleven  miles  east-northeast  from  Winches 
ter,  and  the  left,  with  the  main  body  of  the  cavalry, 
nine  miles  south  by  east  from  Winchester,  at  White 
Post,  where  his  presence  strongly  emphasized  the 
menace  to  Early's  rear.  The  position  thus  held 
presently  became  known  as  the  Clifton-Berryville 
line.  While  worthless  for  defence,  it  had  the  double 
advantage  of  covering  the  short  roads  to  Washington 
through  Snicker's  Gap  and  Ashby's  Gap,  and  of 
elbowing  Early  out  of  his  favorite  position  at  Bunker 
Hill,  at  the  same  time  that  by  throwing  back  the 
right  flank  toward  Clifton,  Sheridan's  road  to  Charles- 
town  and  Harper's  Ferry  was  made  safe.  Early 
quietly  let  go  his  hold  on  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio 


372  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

railway,  and,  just  as  Grant  had  anticipated,  hastened 
to  place  himself  across  Sheridan's  path  at  Win 
chester. 

On  the  morning  of  the  nth  of  August,  Sheridan 
took  ground  to  the  left,  meaning  to  seize  and  hold 
the  fords  of  the  Opequon,  Wright  at  the  turnpike 
road  between  Berryville  and  Winchester,  Emory  far 
ther  up  the  creek  at  the  Senseny  road,  and  Crook  on 
Emory's  left,  probably  at  the  Millwood  pike.  The 
cavalry  covered  the  right  of  the  Sixth  Corps,  and  on 
both  flanks  threatened  Winchester.  Early,  who  had 
moved  on  the  previous  day  from  Bunker  Hill  to  a 
position  covering  Winchester  from  the  south,  was  in 
the  act  of  retiring  on  Strasburg  when  Torbert  ran 
into  his  cavalry.  Sharp  skirmishing  resulted  without 
bringing  on  a  general  engagement.  At  night  Early 
held  and  covered  the  valley  turnpike  between  New- 
town  and  Middletown,  while  Sheridan,  who  before 
crossing  the  Opequon  had  heard  of  Early's  move 
ment,  and  had  simply  continued  his  own  march  up 
the  right  or  east  bank,  rested  between  the  Millwood 
crossing  of  the  Opequon  and  Stony  Point  on  the  road 
to  Front  Royal. 

The  melancholy  failure  attending  the  explosion  of 
the  mine  before  Petersburg  and  the  continued  reduc 
tion  of  Grant's  forces,  brought  about  by  Early's 
diversions,  coming  on  top  of  the  losses  since  crossing 
the  Rapidan,  had  brought  affairs  on  the  James  to  a 
dead-lock.  While  Grant  in  this  situation  was  willing 
to  spare  the  Sixth  Corps  and  the  Nineteenth  and 
even  to  strengthen  them  by  two  divisions  of  cavalry 
from  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  Lee  on  his  part  not 
only  gave  up  all  present  thought  of  recalling  Early, 
as  had  been  the  custom  in  former  years,  but  even 


IN  THE  SHENANDOAH.  373 

sent  Anderson  with'  Kershaw's  division  of  infantry, 
Fitzhugh  Lee's  division  of  cavalry,  and  Cutshaw's 
battalion  of  artillery,  to  strengthen  Early,  so  as  to 
enable  him  to  hold  his  ground,  and  thus  to  cover  the 
gathering  of  the  crops  in  the  valley,  and  perhaps  to 
encourage  still  further  detachments  from  the  invest 
ing  forces  before  Richmond  and  Petersburg.  The 
first  week  of  August  found  Anderson  on  the  march 
and  he  was  now  moving  down  the  valley.  Therefore 
Early  very  properly  drew  back  through  Strasburg  to 
wait  for  Anderson,  and  on  the  night  of  the  i2th  of 
August  took  up  a  strong  position  at  Fisher's  Hill. 
Its  natural  advantages  he  proceeded  to  increase  by 
entrenchments. 

Sheridan,  following,  encamped  in  the  same  order 
as  before  on  the  left  bank  of  Cedar  Creek.  On  the 
1 3th  Wright  crossed  Cedar  Creek  and  occupied 
Hupp's  Hill,  and  sending  his  skirmishers  into  Stras 
burg,  discovered  Early  in  position  as  described  ;  but 
at  nightfall  Sheridan,  who  now  had  information  that 
caused  him  to  suspect  Anderson's  movement,  drew 
back  and  set  the  cavalry  to  guard  the  Front  Royal 
road.  Then  Early  advanced  his  outposts  to  Hupp's 
Hill,  and  so  for  the  next  three  days  both  armies  rested. 

On  the  1 4th  of  August,  Sheridan  received  from 
Grant  authentic,  rather  than  exact,  information  of 
Anderson's  movement,  for  this  was  supposed  to 
include  two  infantry  divisions,  instead  of  one. 
Coupled  with  this  was  Grant's  renewed  order  to  be 
cautious. 

With  his  quick  eye  for  country,  Sheridan  soon  saw 
that  he  had  but  one  even  tolerable  position  for  de 
fence,  and  that  this  was  at  Halltown.  The  Confed 
erate  defence,  on  the  other  hand,  rested  on  Fisher's 


374  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

Hill,  and  between  these  two  positions  the  wide  plain 
lay  like  a  chess-board  between  the  players.  And  now 
began  a  series  of  moves,  during  which  each  side 
watched  and  waited  for  the  adversary  to  weaken 
himself,  or  to  make  a  mistake,  or  for  some  chance 
encounter  to  bring  about  an  unlooked-for  advantage. 
Finding  his  position  at  Cedar  Creek,  to  use  his  own 
words,  "  a  very  bad  one,"  Sheridan  was  about  to  re 
tire  to  the  extreme  limit  of  the  valley  at  the  confluence 
of  the  Potomac  and  the  Shenandoah  ;  and  this  was  to 
be  but  the  beginning  of  a  series  of  seesaw  movements, 
in  which,  as  often  as  Sheridan  went  back  to  Halltown, 
Early  would  advance  to  Bunker  Hill.  Early,  having 
taken  the  offensive,  was  bound  to  keep  it,  or  lose  his 
venture.  Now,  at  this  time,  Early 's  objective  was 
the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  railway ;  but  Sheridan's  was 
Early.  Thus,  whenever  he  found  Early  at  Bunker 
Hill,  wreaking  his  pleasure  on  the  railway  and  the 
canal,  Sheridan  had  only  to  take  a  step  forward  to 
the  Clifton-Berryville  line  in  order  to  force  Early  to 
hasten  back  to  Winchester,  and  to  lay  hold  of  the 
Opequon  ;  and  so  this  alternating  play  might  have 
continued  as  long  as  the  war  lasted,  if  other  causes 
and  events  had  not  intervened. 

At  eleven  o'clock  on  the  night  of  the  I5th  of 
August,  Sheridan's  retreat  began,  Emory  moving  to 
Winchester,  where  he  went  into  bivouac  at  six 
o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  i6th.  At  eight  o'clock 
on  the  evening  of  the  i6th,  Wright  and  Crook  fol 
lowed,  and  on  the  1 7th  Early,  who  had  now  been 
joined  by  Anderson,  marched  in  pursuit.  The  same 
evening  Sheridan  took  up  the  Clifton-Berryville  posi 
tion  in  the  old  order ;  the  cavalry,  now  strengthened 
by  the  arrival  of  Wilson's  division,  covering  the  rear 


IN  THE  SHENANDOAH.  375 

and  flanks.  At  Berryville,  at  midnight,  Grover  joined 
Emory,  from  Washington  by  Leesburg  and  Snicker's 
Gap,  with  the  remainder  of  the  Nineteenth  Corps 
from  the  James 1 ;  and  since  the  receipt  of  these 
reinforcements  formed  Sheridan's  only  reason  for 
staying  at  Berryville,  on  the  i8th  he  fell  back  to 
Charlestown,  holding  the  roads  leading  thence  to 
Berryville  and  to  Bunker  Hill. 

On  the  i Qth  and  2Oth  of  August,  Sheridan  stood 
still  while  Early  occupied  Bunker  Hill  and  Win 
chester ;  but,  on  the  2ist,  Early  from  Bunker  Hill 
and  Anderson  from  Winchester  moved  together  to 
the  attack.  Rodes  and  Ramseur  had  a  sharp  fight 
with  Wright,  which  caused  Sheridan  to  bring  up 
Crook  on  the  left  and  Emory  on  the  right ;  but 
neither  came  into  action,  because  Merritt  and  Wilson 
stood  so  stiffly  that  Anderson  got  no  farther  than 
Summit  Point.  During  the  night  Sheridan  fell  back 
to  Halltown. 

In  retreating  from  Cedar  Creek  Sheridan  began  to 
put  in  force  Grant's  new  policy  of  making  the  valley 
useless  to  the  Confederate  armies  by  burning  all  the 
grain  and  carrying  off  all  the  animals  above  Win 
chester.  "  I  have  destroyed  everything  eatable,"  are 
Sheridan's  words. 

On  the  25th  of  August,  after  three  days  spent  in 
skirmishing,  Early  left  Anderson  to  mask  Halltown, 
and  sent  Fitzhugh  Lee  by  Martinsburg  to  Williams- 
port,  marching  himself  to  Shepherdstown.  A  rough 
fight  with  Torbert's  cavalry  resulted  near  Kearneys- 
ville,  in  which  Custer  narrowly  avoided  the  loss  of 

1  Grover's  men  made  the  hard  march  of  69  miles  from  Washington  in  three 
days  ;  the  last  33  miles  in  13^  hours,  actual  time.  See  Major  Tiemann's  "  His 
tory  of  the  isgth  New  York,"  pp.  91,  92. 


376          THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

his  brigade  by  a  rapid  flight  across  the  Potomac  at 
Shepherdstown.  Sheridan  sent  two  divisions  of  cav 
alry  under  Averell  and  Wilson  over  the  Potomac 
to  watch  the  fords  and  to  hold  the  gaps  of  the  South 
Mountain.  Thus  when  Fitzhugh  Lee  got  to  the  Po 
tomac,  he  found  Averell  waiting  for  him,  and  Ander 
son  being  pressed  back  by  Crook  on  the  26th,  Early 
fell  back  beyond  the  Opequon  to  Bunker  Hill  and 
Stephenson's  Depot.  On  the  28th  of  August  Sheri 
dan  advanced  to  Charlestown,  and  waiting  there  five 
days  while  his  cavalry  was  concentrating  and  feeling 
the  enemy,  he  again  moved  forward  to  the  Clifton- 
Berryville  line  on  the  3d  of  September,  and  encamped 
in  the  usual  order. 

Two  marked  features  had  now  become  regularly 
established  :  as  often  as  the  troops  halted,  no  matter 
for  how  short  a  time,  of  their  own  accord  they  in 
stantly  set  about  protecting  their  front  with  the  spade 
and  the  axe  ;  and,  secondly,  the  depots  of  the  army 
were  fixed  behind  the  strong  lines  of  Halltown  with 
a  sufficient  force  to  guard  them,  and  thence,  as 
needed,  supplies  were  sent  forward  to  the  troops  in 
the  field  by  strongly  guarded  trains,  and  these,  as 
soon  as  unloaded,  were  returned  to  Halltown,  thus 
reducing  to  a  minimum  the  impedimenta  of  the  army 
as  well  as  the  detachments  usually  demanded  for 
their  care.  For  the  Nineteenth  Corps,  Currie's  bri 
gade  of  Dwight's  division  performed  this  service 
during  the  campaign. 

The  contingency  for  which  Grant  and  Sheridan 
were  waiting  was  now  close  at  hand.  Anderson  had 
been  nearly  a  month  away  from  Lee,  and  meanwhile 
Grant  had  not  only  kept  Lee  on  the  watch  on  both 
banks  of  the  James,  as  well  for  Richmond  as  for 


IN  THE  SHENANDOAH.  377 

Petersburg,  but  had  taken  a  fast  hold  on  the  Weldon 
railway.  Unable  to  shake  off  Grant's  clutch  either 
on  the  James  or  on  the  Shenandoah,  Lee  greatly 
needed  Anderson  back  with  him.  Accordingly,  on 
the  very  day  when  Sheridan  went  back  to  Berryville, 
Anderson,  seeking  the  shortest  way  to  Richmond, 
ran  into  Crook  in  the  act  of  going  into  camp,  and 
darkness  shortly  put  an  end  to  a  sharp  fight  that 
might  otherwise  have  proved  a  pitched  battle.  This 
brought  Early  in  haste  from  Stephenson's  to  Ander 
son's  help,  but  when  the  next  day  Early  saw  how 
strongly  posted  Sheridan  was,  he  fell  back  across 
the  Opequon  to  cover  Winchester,  and  finally,  on 
the  1 4th  of  September,  sent  off  Anderson  by  Front 
Royal  and  Chester  Gap,  but  this  time  without 
Fitzhugh  Lee. 

The  interval  was  occupied  in  continual  skirmishes 
and  reconnoissances.  Meanwhile  Crook  changed 
over  from  the  left  flank  to  the  right  at  Summit  Point, 
the  cavalry  covering  the  front  and  flanks  from 
Snicker's  Gap  by  way  of  Smithfield  and  Martinsburg 
to  the  Potomac.  On  the  i6th  of  September,  Grant, 
pressed  by  the  government  in  behalf  of  the  business 
interests  disturbed  by  the  enemy's  control  of  the  rail 
way  and  the  canal,  went  to  Charlestown  to  confer 
with  Sheridan.  In  the  breast-pocket  of  his  coat 
Grant  carried  a  complete  plan  of  the  campaign  he 
meant  Sheridan  to  carry  out ;  but  when,  having  asked 
Sheridan  if  he  could  be  ready  to  move  on  Tuesday, 
Sheridan  promptly  answered  he  should  be  ready 
whenever  the  General  should  say  "  Go  in  " — at  day 
light  on  Monday,  if  necessary, — so  delighted  was 
Grant  that  he  said  not  a  word  about  the  plan,  but 
contented  himself  with  echoing  the  words,  "  Go  in  !  " 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

THE  OPEQUON.1 

GRANT'S  approval  of  Sheridan's  attack  was  founded 
on  the  withdrawal  of  Kershaw  ;  but  on  the  i8th  of 
September,  just  as  Sheridan  was  about  to  move  on 
Newtown,  meaning  to  offer  Early  the  choice  of  being 
turned  out  of  Winchester,  or  being  overwhelmed  if 
he  should  stay,  news  came  from  Averell  that  he  had 
been  driven  out  of  Martinsburg  by  two  divisions  of 
infantry.  These  were  the  divisions  of  Rodes  and 
Gordon,  with  which,  enticed  at  last  into  a  grave  error 
by  the  temptation  of  hearing  that  the  railway  was 
being  repaired,  Early  had  marched  on  the  1 7th  to 
Bunker  Hill  and  Martinsburg.  When  Sheridan 
heard  of  this,  and  perceived  that  Early' s  forces,  al 
ready  diminished,  were  strung  along  all  the  way  from 
Winchester  to  Martinsburg,  he  stopped  the  execution 
of  the  orders  he  had  already  issued  for  the  movement 
at  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  that  day,  the  i8th 
of  September,  and  replaced  them  by  fresh  arrange 
ments  which  led  to  the  battle  of  the  Opequon  on  the 
1 9th.  Since  last  moving  to  the  Clifton-Berryville 
line,  Sheridan  had  used  his  cavalry  to  preserve  in  his 
front  an  open  space  fully  six  miles  in  depth,  extend 
ing  to  the  banks  of  the  Opequon,  meaning  not  only 
to  have  the  first  tidings  of  any  offensive  movement 

1  Also  spelled  "  Opequan."     Pronounced  O-peck'-an. 
378 


THE  OPE  QUO  N.  379 

by  the  enemy,  but  also  that  when  himself  ready  to 
move  he  might  be  able  to  take  the  enemy  by  surprise. 

On  the  evening  of  the  i8th  of  September,  part  of 
Early 's  cavalry  was  at  Martinsburg,  Gordon  occupied 
Bunker  Hill,  Wharton  was  at  Stephenson's,  with 
Rodes  closing  back  on  him,  while  Ramseur  alone 
covered  Winchester  in  the  path  of  Sheridan's  advance. 
Sheridan  naturally  supposed  that  in  a  quick  move 
ment  he  would  have  two  divisions  to  deal  with  after 
crossing  the  Opequon. 

At  two  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  Monday,  the 
1 9th  of  September,  on  the  very  day  when  Sheridan 
had  told  Grant  he  would  be  ready  to  move,  but  just 
three  hours  earlier,  Sheridan  put  his  army  in  motion 
toward  the  Opequon,  covering  his  flank  by  directing 
Merritt  and  Averell  on  Stephenson's.  He  sent  Wil 
son  rapidly  ahead  on  the  Berryville  road  to  carry  the 
ford  and  to  seize  the  long  and  deep  defile  on  the  left 
or  east  bank  through  which  the  main  column  would 
have  to  advance.  Wright  was  to  lead  the  infantry, 
closely  followed  by  Emory,  who,  in  order  to  solidify 
the  movement,  was  instructed  to  take  his  orders  from 
Wright  after  reaching  the  ford.  Crook,  coming  in 
from  his  more  distant  position,  would  naturally  fall 
in  the  rear  of  the  others,  and  he  was  to  mass  his  men 
in  reserve,  covering  the  ford.  Wright  had  to  move 
partly  across  country,  and  had  farther  to  go  than 
Emory.  Although  both  started  punctually  at  the 
appointed  hour,  it  happened  that,  about  five  o'clock, 
the  head  of  Wright's  column  ran  into  Emory's  in 
march  near  the  crest,  whence  the  road  sweeps  down 
to  the  Opequon.  There  Emory  halted,  by  Wright's 
orders,  to  let  the  Sixth  Corps  pass.  Unfortunately, 
minute  and  thorough  as  Sheridan's  plans  and  instruc- 


38o  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

tions  were,  he  appears  to  have  underrated  the  double 
difficulty  of  crossing  the  ford  and  threading  the  long 
defile,  for  to  this  cause  must  be  attributed  the  pres 
ence  of  Wright's  entire  wagon-train  in  the  rear  of  his 
corps,  as  well  as  the  excess  of  artillery  for  the  work 
and  the  field.  The  head  of  the  column  could  move 
but  slowly ;  thus  the  rear  was  so  long  retarded,  that, 
although  the  crossing  began  about  six  o'clock,  and 
the  whole  movement  was  urged  on  by  Sheridan, 
Wright,  and  Emory,  and  indeed  by  every  one,  it 
wanted  but  twenty  minutes  of  noon  when  the  line  of 
battle  was  finally  formed  on  the  rolling  ground  over 
looking  the  vale  of  the  Opequon  to  the  rear  and 
Winchester  to  the  front.  Even  as  it  was,  Sheridan's 
eagerness  being  great,  and  the  delay  seeming  inter 
minable,  Emory  felt  obliged  to  take  upon  himself 
the  responsibility  of  departing  from  the  strict  order 
of  march,  and  directed  Dwight  to  move  his  men  to 
the  right  of  the  road  and  pass  the  train.  Thus  it  had 
taken  six  hours  to  advance  three  miles  and  to  form 
in  order  of  battle,  and  the  immediate  effect  of  this 
delay  was  that  Sheridan  had  now  to  deal,  not  only 
with  Ramseur,  or  with  the  two  divisions  counted  on, 
but  with  the  whole  of  Early's  army  ;  for  between  five 
and  six  o'clock  in  the  morning  Gordon,  Rodes,  and 
Wharton  were  all  at  Stephenson's,  distant  only  five 
miles  from  Winchester  or  from  the  field  of  battle, 
toward  which  they  all  moved  rapidly  at  the  sound  of 
the  first  firing,  due  to  Wilson's  advance. 

Opequon  Creek  flows  at  the  foot  of  a  broad  and 
thickly  wooded  gorge,  with  high  and  steep  banks. 
The  ravine  through  which  the  Berryville  road  rises  to 
the  level  of  the  rolling  plain,  in  the  middle  of  whose 
western  edge  stands  Winchester,  is  nearly  three  miles 


THE  OPEQUON.  381 

long.  Here  and  there  the  high  ground  is  covered 
with  large  oaks,  pines,  and  undergrowth,  and  is  inter 
sected  by  many  brooks,  called  runs.  Of  these  the 
largest  is  Red  Bud  Run,  which  forms  a  smaller  paral 
lel  ravine  flanking  the  defile  on  the  north,  while  a 
still  larger  stream,  called  Abraham's  Creek,  after 
pursuing  a  nearly  parallel  course  on  the  south  side  of 
the  defile,  crosses  the  road  not  far  from  the  ford,  and 
just  below  it  falls  into  the  Opequon. 

Wilson,  after  crossing  the  Opequon  and  complet 
ing  his  task  of  covering  the  advance  of  the  infantry 
through  the  defile,  had  turned  to  the  left  on  the  high 
ground  and  taken  post  to  cover  the  flank  on  the 
Senseny  road,  which,  after  crossing  the  Opequon 
about  a  mile  and  a  quarter  above  the  main  ford, 
reaches  the  outskirts  of  Winchester  at  a  point  little 
more  than  three  hundred  yards  from  the  Berryville 
road.  The  Sixth  Corps  formed  across  the  Berryville 
road,  Getty  on  its  left,  Ricketts  on  its  right.  Getty 
rested  his  left  on  Abraham's  Creek.  Behind  him 
Russell  stood  in  column  in  support.  Emory  pro 
longed  the  line  of  battle  to  the  Red  Bud  on  the  right 
by  posting  Sharpe's  and  Birge's  brigades  of  Grover, 
with  Molineux  and  Shunk  in  the  second  line,  the 
9th  Connecticut  deployed  as  skirmishers  to  cover 
the  right  flank  of  Birge.  Dwight's  two  brigades 
formed  on  the  right  and  rear  of  Grover  in  echelon  of 
regiments  on  the  right,  in  order  not  only  to  support 
Grover' s  line,  but  to  cover  the  flank  against  any  turn 
ing  movement  by  the  Confederates  or  an  attack  by 
their  reinforcements  coming  straight  from  Stephen- 
son's.  Beal's  brigade  held  the  right  of  Dwight's  line, 
and  the  brigade  line  from  right  to  left  was  formed  in 
order  of  the  ii4th  New  York,  i53d  New  York,  n6th 


382  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

New  York,  2Qth  Maine,  and  3Oth  Massachusetts. 
Beal  covered  his  right  flank  by  a  detail  of  skirmishers 
taken  from  all  his  regiments  and  commanded  by 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Strain,  of  the  I53d  New  York. 
McMillan,  on  the  left  and  rear  of  Beal,  formed  in 
order  of  the  47th  Pennsylvania,  8th  Vermont,  i6oth 
New  York,  and  i2th  Connecticut,  with  five  compa 
nies  of  the  47th  Pennsylvania  deployed  to  cover  the 
whole  right  flank  of  his  brigade  and  to  move  forward 
with  it  by  the  flank  left  in  front.  Crook  had  by  this 
time  crossed  the  ford  and  was  massed  on  the  left  or 
west  bank. 

In  climbing  the  hill  the  Berry ville  road  follows 
nearly  a  northwesterly  course,  but  soon  after  reaching 
the  high  ground  bends  rather  sharply  toward  the 
left,  crosses  the  ravine  called  Ash  Hollow  forming 
the  head  of  Berryville  Canon,  and  runs  for  nearly  a 
mile  almost  westerly.  Wright  was  following  the  road, 
but  as  Emory  guided  upon  Wright,  the  alignment 
was  to  be  preserved  by  Sharpe's  keeping  his  left  in 
touch  with  the  right  of  Ricketts.  While  the  ground 
in  Wright's  front  was  for  the  most  part  open,  Emory 
was  chiefly  in  the  dense  wood,  where  the  heavy  leaf 
age  and  undergrowth  prevented  him  from  seeing  not 
only  the  enemy  before  him,  but  also  the  full  extent  of 
his  own  line.  It  should  be  observed  with  care  that 
Ricketts  was  between  Sharpe  and  the  Berryville  road, 
while  the  road  was  between  Getty  and  Ricketts,  and 
formed  the  guide  for  both  ;  for  these  facts,  of  slight 
importance  though  they  may  seem,  were  destined 
presently  to  exert  an  influence  wellnigh  fatal  on  the 
fortunes  of  the  day. 

During  the  early  hours  of  the  morning  Ramseur, 
on  the  Berryville  road,  and  the  cavalry  of  Lomax  on 


THE  OPEQUON.  383 

the  Senseny  road,  had  been  the  only  Confederate 
force  between  Sheridan  and  Winchester.  But  first 
Gordon  came  up  at  nine  o'clock,  and  placed  himself 
opposite  Emory's  right,  his  own  left  resting  on  the 
line  of  the  Red  Bud  ;  then  Rodes,  closely  following 
Gordon,  formed  between  him  and  Ramseur  against 
the  right  of  Emory  and  the  left  of  Wright. 

About  a  quarter  before  twelve  o'clock,  at  the  sound 
of  Sheridan's  bugle,  repeated  from  corps,  division, 
and  brigade  headquarters,  the  whole  line  moved 
forward  with  great  spirit,  and  instantly  became  en 
gaged.  Wilson  pushed  back  Lomax,  Wright  drove 
in  Ramseur,  while  Emory,  advancing  his  infantry 
rapidly  through  the  wood,  where  he  was  unable  to 
use  his  artillery,  attacked  Gordon  with  great  vigor. 
Birge,  charging  with  bayonets  fixed,  fell  upon  the 
brigade  of  Evans,  forming  the  extreme  left  of  Gordon, 
and  without  a  halt  drove  it  in  confusion  through  the 
wood  and  across  the  open  ground  beyond  to  the 
support  of  Braxton's  artillery,  posted  by  Gordon  to 
secure  his  flank  on  the  Red  Bud  road.  In  this 
brilliant  charge,  led  by  Birge  in  person,  his  lines 
naturally  became  disordered,  and  Grover,  foreseeing 
the  effect  of  an  advance  so  swift  and  so  tumultuous, 
ordered  Birge  to  halt  and  re-form  in  the  wood.  This 
order  Birge  tried  to  execute  ;  but  whether  the  words 
of  command  were  not  heard  or  were  misunderstood, 
or  in  the  wild  excitement  of  the  moment  were  wilfully 
disregarded  by  the  men,  certain  it  is  that  their  officers 
found  it  impossible  to  restrain  their  ardor  until  they 
had  followed  on  the  run  the  broken  fragments  of 
Evans  quite  through  the  wood  and  beyond  its 
farther  skirt,  where  Braxton,  using  his  guns  with 
energy  and  skill,  brought  them  to  a  stand. 


384  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

Sharpe,  advancing  simultaneously  on  Birge's  left, 
tried  in  vain  to  keep  the  alignment  with  Ricketts  and 
with  Birge  ;  for  now  the  peculiar  feature  of  the  long 
alignment  across  the  swerving  road  began  to  work, 
yet,  by  reason  of  the  screen  of  timber,  without  the 
cause  being  immediately  observed  by  any  one.  At 
first  the  order  of  battle  formed  a  right  angle  with  the 
road,  but  the  bend  once  reached,  in  the  effort  to  keep 
closed  upon  it,  at  every  step  Ricketts  was  taking 
ground  more  and  more  to  the  left,  while  the  point  of 
direction  for  Birge,  and  equally  for  Sharpe,  was  the 
enemy  in  their  front,  standing  almost  in  the  exact 
prolongation  of  the  defile,  from  which  line,  still  plainly 
marked  by  Ash  Hollow,  the  road,  as  we  have  seen, 
was  steadily  diverging.  In  short,  to  continue  the 
march  parallel  with  the  road  compelled  a  left  half- 
wheel,  while  the  battle  was  with  the  enemy  straight 
in  front,  so  that  even  had  it  been  possible  for  Emory 
to  execute  his  orders  literally  he  must  have  offered  his 
wheeling  flank  fairly  to  Rodes  and  to  Gordon. 

Sharpe,  seeing  that  the  gap  between  himself  and 
Ricketts  was  growing  every  moment  wider,  in  vain 
tried  to  cover  it  by  more  than  one  oblique  movement 
to  the  left,  and  Keifer,  whose  brigade  formed  the 
right  of  Ricketts,  being  also  among  the  first  to 
perceive  the  fault,  tried  to  make  it  good  by  deploying 
three  of  his  regiments  across  the  interval. 

Birge's  advance  had  borne  him  far  to  the  right,  and 
as  Sharpe,  in  the  vain  attempt  to  keep  his  alignment 
with  Ricketts,  was  always  drifting  to  the  left,  there 
came  a  second  and  smaller  gap  between  the  two  lead 
ing  brigades  of  Grover.  Into  this  Molineux  was 
quickly  thrust,  and,  deploying  in  parade  order,  under 
a  heavy  fire  of  cannon  and  musketry,  at  once  began 


THE  OPEQUON.       t  385 

firing  in  return  with  great  effect  on  the  advancing 
columns  of  the  enemy.  But,  shortly  before  this  hap 
pened,  the  interval  between  Ricketts  and  Sharpe  had 
grown  to  be  nearly  four  hundred  yards  wide,  and 
Birge's  advance  being  stayed  at  nearly  the  same 
instant,  Early  saw  his  opportunity  and  seized  it  by 
throwing  against  the  diverging  flanks  of  Sharpe  and 
Ricketts  the  fresh  brigade  that  Battle  had  that 
moment  brought  up  from  Stephenson's.  This  new 
impulse  once  more  carried  forward  the  rest  of  Rodes's 
division  ;  Ramseur  rallied  ;  Early  restored  his  forma 
tion  ;  and  the  whole  Confederate  line  swept  forward 
with  renewed  impetuosity,  broke  in  the  whole  right  of 
Ricketts  and  the  left  of  Sharpe,  surged  around  both 
flanks  of  Molineux,  and  swept  back  Birge.  Sharpe's 
line,  thus  taken  fairly  in  flank,  was  quickly  rolled  up. 
By  this,  the  left  regiment  of  Molineux,  the  gallant 
22d  Iowa,  being  in  quite  open  ground,  was  greatly 
exposed,  so  that  it,  too,  was  presently  swept  back. 
The  iSQth  New  York  and  the  i3th  Connecticut,  after 
holding  on  stiffly  for  a  time  under  the  partial  cover 
of  a  sort  of  gully,  were  in  like  manner  swept  away,  and 
on  the  right  Birge's  men  paid  the  penalty  of  their  own 
impetuosity.  The  left  of  Ricketts,  less  exposed  to 
the  shock,  stood  firm,  and  the  right  of  Molineux, 
isolated  as  it  was,  held  its  ground  ;  but  otherwise  the 
whole  front  of  the  battle,  from  the  road  to  the  Red 
Bud,  was  gone.  As  the  Confederates  charged  down 
upon  a  section  of  Bradbury's  ist  Maine  Battery, 
posted  about  the  centre  of  the  division,  Day,  who 
under  many  drawbacks  had  brought  up  his  regiment, 
the  1 3 ist  New  York,  to  a  high  standard  of  discipline 
and  efficiency,  took  prompt  and  full  advantage  of  the 
slight  cover  afforded  by  the  little  wooded  ravine  in 


386  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

which  he  happened  to  be.  With  equal  coolness  and 
readiness  he  changed  front  forward  on  his  tenth 
company,  yet  held  his  fire  until  he  could  see  the 
shoulders  and  almost  the  backs  of  the  enemy  ;  then, 
pouring  in  a  hot  fire,  and  being  immediately  supported 
by  the  nth  Indiana,  part  of  the  3d  Massachusetts, 
and  the  i76th  New  York,  which  had  quickly  rallied 
from  Sharpens  reverse,  the  attacking  force  was  driven 
back  in  disorder ;  but  unfortunately,  in  retiring  it 
swept  across  the  remains  of  Molineux's  left  centre, 
which  had  been  cut  off  in  the  gully,  and  took  many 
prisoners,  especially  from  among  the  officers  who  had 
stood  to  their  posts  through  everything. 

Just  as  when  victory  had  seemed  about  to  alight 
on  the  standard  of  the  Union,  the  very  perch  itself 
had  been  suddenly  and  rudely  shaken  by  the  tread  of 
Early's  charging  columns  ;  so  now,  at  the  precise 
moment  when  defeat — bitter,  perhaps  disastrous  de 
feat — seemed  inevitable,  the  fortunes  of  the  battle 
were  once  more  reversed,  and  the  day  was  suddenly 
saved  by  the  prompt  and  orderly  advance  of  Russell 
into  the  fatal  gap.  As  he  changed  front  from  the 
wood  to  the  right  and  swept  on  in  splendid  array,  it 
happened  that  the  charging  line  of  Early,  already 
disarranged  by  its  own  success,  offered  its  right  flank 
to  Russell's  front.  Russell  himself,  bravely  leading 
his  division,  fell,  yet  not  until  he  had  struck  the  blow 
that  gave  the  victory  to  the  defenders  of  his  country,— 
a  noble  sacrifice  in  a  noble  cause. 

But  on  the  right  a  danger  almost  equally  serious 
menaced  the  flank  of  Emory,  for  when  Birge's  men 
came  streaming  back,  Shunk,  who  had  been  support 
ing  Birge  without  having  men  enough  to  cover  the 
whole  ground,  found  his  left  uncovered  to  Gordon 


THE  OPEQUON.  387 

by  the  giving  way  of  Sharpe,  while  at  the  same  time 
his  line  was  nearly  enfiladed  from  the  right  by  a 
section  or  battery  of  Fitzhugh  Lee's  horse  artillery 
on  the  north  bank  of  the  Red  Bud.  Seeing  all  this, 
Emory  instantly  ordered  his  own  old  division  to 
deploy  at  the  top  of  its  speed,  and  to  make  good  the 
broken  line.  "  Have  this  thing  stopped  at  once," 
were  the  terse  words  of  his  command  to  Dwight. 
Once  more,  as  at  the  Sabine  Cross-Roads,  the  ist 
brigade  was  called  upon  to  yield  up  its  leading 
regiment  for  a  sacrifice,  and  again  the  lot  fell  to 
New  York,  yet  this  time  upon  the  ii4th,  and  upon 
not  one  of  all  the  good  veteran  battalions  that  held 
the  field  on  that  igth  of  September — if  indeed  upon 
any  in  all  the  armies  of  the  Union — could  the  choice 
have  rested  more  securely.  To  the  left  and  front, 
far  into  the  open  field,  through  the  wreck  of  Grover's 
right,  into  the  teeth  of  the  pursuing  lines  of  Gordon, 
Per  Lee  led  his  regiment.  No  sooner  had  his  men 
emerged  from  the  cover  of  the  wood  than  they  came 
under  the  fire  of  Gordon's  infantry  and  artillery, 
crossed  with  the  fire  of  Fitzhugh  Lee's  guns  beyond 
the  Red  Bud  ;  yet  they  were  not  able  to  fire  a 
musket  in  return  until  their  own  defeated  comrades 
had  passed  to  the  rear.  Cruel  as  the  situation  was, 
the  1 1 4th  marched  steadily  forward  nearly  two  hun 
dred  yards  in  front  of  the  forest ;  then,  finding  him 
self  quite  alone  and  unsupported,  confronted  by  the 
line  of  battle  of  the  enemy  at  the  skirt  of  the  timber 
opposite,  Per  Lee  made  his  men  lie  down  without 
other  cover  than  the  high  grass,  and  there,  loading 
on  their  backs  and  at  every  moment  losing  heavily, 
without  yielding  an  inch,  they  held  off  the  enemy 
until  support  came.  That  this  was  longer  than 


388  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

usual  in  coming  was  no  fault  of  their  comrades,  but  a 
mere  accident  of  the  situation  ;  for  Dwight's  division 
being  formed  in  echelon  of  battalions  on  the  right, 
just  as  it  had  in  the  first  instance  been  necessary  to 
bring  the  ii4th  into  action  obliquely  to  the  left,  so 
now  Beal  was  forced  to  form  the  line  of  battle  of  his 
brigade  by  inversion,  and  this,  moreover,  in  the 
woods,  with  the  steep  bank  of  the  Red  Bud  hamper 
ing  his  right.  Slow  though  it  must  have  seemed  to 
Per  Lee,  standing  out  there  alone,  this  difficult  move 
ment  was  in  reality  executed  by  Beal  with  great 
promptness  and  rapidity  and  in  admirable  order.  As 
regiment  after  regiment,  beginning  with  the  i53d, 
came  into  the  new  line  at  the  double-quick  by  the 
shortest  path,  each  advanced  with  a  shout  to  the  rail 
fence  on  Per  Lee's  right  and  somewhat  toward  his 
rear,  and,  throwing  down  the  rails,  opened  a  rapid 
fire.  This  checked  the  enemy.  Finding  Beal  unable 
to  cover  all  the  ground  he  was  now  trying  to  hold, 
Emory  made  Dwight  take  the  i6oth  New  York  from 
McMillan's  brigade  and  posted  it  on  the  right  of 
Seal's. 

McMillan  had  been  ordered  to  move  forward  at  the 
same  time  as  Beal,  and  to  form  on  his  left.  The  five 
companies  of  the  47th  Pennsylvania  that  had  been 
detached  to  form  a  skirmish  line  on  Red  Bud  Run, 
to  cover  McMillan's  right  flank,  had  somehow  lost 
their  way  on  the  broken  ground  among  the  thickets, 
and,  not  finding  them  in  place,  McMillan  had  been 
obliged  to  send  the  remaining  companies  of  the  regi 
ment  to  do  the  same  duty.  This  detail  and  the 
employment  of  the  i6oth  New  York  in  Beal's  line  left 
McMillan  but  two  of  his  battalions,  the  8th  Vermont 
and  the  I2th  Connecticut;  but  although  McMillan, 


THE  OPEQUON.  389 

holding  the  left  of  the  formation  in  echelon,  had 
farther  to  go  to  reach  his  position,  it  was  only  neces 
sary  for  him  to  move  straight  to  the  front,  and  thus 
the  8th  Vermont  formed  the  right  of  his  line  and  the 
1 2th  Connecticut  the  left.  Not  a  moment  too  soon 
did  Thomas  and  Peck  bring  their  good  regiments  to 
the  support  of  Molineux's  diminished  and  almost 
exhausted  brigade,  and  thus  complete  the  restoration 
of  Emory's  line  of  battle.  Almost  at  the  first  fire 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Peck,  the  brave,  accomplished, 
and  spirited  soldier  who  had  led  the  i2th  Connecti 
cut  in  every  action,  fell  mortally  wounded  by  the 
fragment  of  a  shell. 

The  shaken  regiments  of  Grover  quickly  rallied 
and  re-formed  in  good  order  behind  the  lines  of 
Dwight,  and  all  pressing  forward  once  more,  took 
part  in  the  countercharge  begun  by  Russell,  by  which 
the  whole  Confederate  line  was  driven  back  in  con 
fusion  quite  beyond  the  positions  from  which  they  had 
advanced  to  the  attack.  To  this  line,  substantially, 
Wright  and  Emory  followed,  and,  correcting  their 
position  and  alignment,  waited  for  events  or  for 
orders.  By  one  o'clock  the  morning's  fight  was  over. 
Fierce  and  eventful  as  it  had  been,  it  had  lasted 
barely  an  hour. 

The  Confederates,  greatly  outnumbered  from  the 
first,  were  now,  after  their  losses  and  the  rough  han 
dling  they  had  received,  no  longer  in  condition  for 
the  offensive,  and  from  the  defensive  they  had,  as 
things  stood,  little  to  hope.  Sheridan,  on  his  part, 
with  some  reluctance,  made  up  his  mind  that  it  would 
be  better  to  give  up  his  original  plan  of  putting  in 
Crook  on  the  left  to  cut  off  Early's  retreat  by  moving 
against  the  valley  turnpike  near  Newtown,  and  instead 


390  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

of  this  to  use  Crook  and  the  cavalry  on  the  Red  Bud 
line  against  Early's  left.  The  time  needed  for  this 
movement  caused  a  comparative  lull  in  the  battle  of 
about  two  hours'  duration.  It  was  not  so  much  that 
the  battle  died  away,  for  the  fire  of  artillery  and  even 
of  musketry  was  still  kept  up,  as  that  neither  side 
moved  in  force  against  the  other.  While  waiting  for 
Crook  to  come  into  position  on  the  right,  Emory's 
restored  line  was  formed  by  Beal  on  the  right,  pro 
longed  toward  the  left  by  Shunk,  Birge  supported 
by  Molineux,  Day  with  the  isist  New  York,  Allen 
with  the  battalion  of  the  38th  Massachusetts,  the  8th 
Vermont,  and  the  i2th  Connecticut  of  McMillan 
supported  by  the  i6oth  New  York,  now  withdrawn 
from  the  right,  and  finally  Neafie,  leading  Grover's 
3d  brigade  in  place  of  Sharpe,  who  had  been  carried 
off  the  field  severely  wounded. 

From  his  position  in  reserve,  covering  the  Opequon 
ford,  Crook  moved  up  the  right  bank  of  the  Red  Bud 
to  the  rear  of  Dwight's  first  position,  and  then,  divid 
ing  his  command,  posted  Thoburn  on  the  right  of 
Dwight,  and  sent  Duval  across  the  Red  Bud  to  his 
point  of  attack.  Then  Thoburn,  at  Emory's  request, 
relieved  Beal's  front  line  of  battle,  while  Emory 
drew  out  the  ii/j-th,  the  n6th,  and  the  I53d  New 
York  and  placed  them  under  Davis  to  strengthen 
the  centre.  Beal  himself  was  looking  to  his  flank, 
held  by  the  47th  Pennsylvania  and  the  3Oth  Massa 
chusetts. 

Meanwhile  Wharton  had  gone  back  from  the  des 
perate  task  of  covering  the  flank  at  Stephenson's 
against  Merritt's  advance  and  had  taken  position  in 
the  rear  of  Rodes. 

As  soon  as  Crook  was  fairly  across  the  Red  Bud, 


THE  OPE  QUO  N.  391 

his  movement  silenced  the  battery  on  the  left  bank 
that  had  been  enfilading  Emory's  line,  and  this  served 
to  tell  Emory  that  Crook  was  in  place  and  at  work. 
Averell  and  Merritt  could  be  plainly  seen  surging 
up  the  valley  road  far  in  Gordon's  left  and  rear, 
furiously  driving  before  them  the  main  body  of  Fitz- 
hugh  Lee's  cavalry.  About  four  o'clock  the  cheers 
of  Duval's  men  beyond  the  Red  Bud  served  as  the 
signal  for  Thoburn,  and  now  as  Crook  moved  for 
ward,  sweeping  everything  before  him,  from  right  to 
left  the  whole  army  responded  to  the  impulse.  To 
meet  Thoburn,  Breckinridge  placed  Wharton  in  posi 
tion  at  right  angles  with  Gordon  and  with  the  valley 
road.  Duval,  having  easily  driven  before  him  every 
thing  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Red  Bud,  waded  through 
the  marsh  on  his  left,  crossed  the  run,  and  united 
with  Thoburn.  Then  Crook,  with  a  sudden  and 
irregular  but  curiously  effective  half-wheel  to  the  left, 
fell  vigorously  upon  Gordon,  and  Torbert  coming  on 
with  great  impetuosity  at  the  same  instant,  the  weight 
was  heavier  than  the  attenuated  lines  of  Breckinridge 
and  Gordon  could  bear.  Early  saw  his  whole  left 
wing  give  back  in  disorder,  and  as  Emory  and  Wright 
pressed  hard,  Rodes  and  Ramseur  gave  way,  and  the 
battle  was  over. 

All  that  remained  to  Early  was  to  make  good  his 
retreat,  now  seriously  compromised  by  the  steady 
progress  of  Wilson  toward  and  at  last  upon  the  Mill 
wood  road.  Early  vainly  endeavored  to  reunite  his 
shattered  fragments  behind  the  lines  constructed  in 
former  campaigns  for  the  defence  of  Winchester  on 
the  east.  About  five  o'clock  Torbert  and  Crook, 
fairly  at  right  angles  to  the  first  line  of  battle,  covered 
Winchester  on  the  north  from  the  rocky  ledges  that 


392  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

lie  to  the  eastward  of  the  town  nearly  to  the  first 
position  of  Braxton's  guns.  Thence  Wright  ex 
tended  the  line  at  right  angles  with  Crook  and 
parallel  with  the  valley  road,  while  Sheridan  drew 
out  Emory,  who  was  naturally  displaced  by  these 
converging  movements,  and  sent  him  to  extend 
Wright's  line  toward  the  south. 

The  disorderly  retreat  of  Early's  men  once  begun, 
there  was  no  staying  it.  Torbert  pursued  the  fugi 
tives  to  Kernstown,  where  Ramseur  faced  about,  but 
Sheridan,  mindful  that  his  men  had  been  on  their 
feet  since  two  o'clock  in  the  morning,  many  of  them 
since  one,  and  had  in  the  meantime  fought  with 
varying  success  a  long  and  hard  fight  ending  in  a 
great  victory,  made  no  attempt  to  send  his  infantry 
after  the  flying  enemy. 

For  what  was  probably  the  first  time  in  their  lives, 
his  men  had  seen  every  musket,  every  cannon,  and 
every  sabre  put  in  use,  and  to  good  use,  by  their 
young  and  vigorous  commander.  They  had  looked 
upon  a  decisive  victory  ending  with  the  rout  of  their 
enemy.  Sheridan  himself  openly  rejoiced,  and  catch 
ing  the  enthusiasm  of  their  leader,  his  men  went  wild 
with  excitement  when,  accompanied  by  his  corps  com 
manders,  Wright  and  Emory  and  Crook,  Sheridan 
rode  down  the  front  of  his  lines.  Then  went  up  a 
mighty  cheer  that  gave  new  life  to  the  wounded  and 
consoled  the  last  moments  of  the  dying,  for  in  every 
breast  was  firmly  implanted  the  conviction  that  now 
at  last  the  end  was  in  sight,  and  that  deep-toned 
shout  that  shook  the  hills  and  the  heavens  was  not 
the  brutal  roar  of  a  rude  and  barbarous  soldiery, 
coarsely  exulting  over  the  distress  and  slaughter  of 
the  vanquished,  but  the  glad  voice  of  the  American 


THE  OPEQUON.  393 

people *  rejoicing  from  the  hill-top  at  the  first  sure 
glimpse  of  the  final  victory  that  meant  to  them  peace, 
home,  and  a  nation  saved. 

When  the  President  heard  the  news  his  first  act 
was  to  write  with  his  own  hand  a  warm  message  of 
congratulation,  and  this  he  followed  up  by  making 
Sheridan  a  brigadier-general  in  the  regular  army,  and 
assigning  him  permanently  to  the  high  command  he 
had  been  exercising  under  temporary  orders. 

The  losses  of  the  Army  of  the  Shenandoah,  ac 
cording  to  the  revised  statements  compiled  in  the  War 
Department,  were  5,018,  including  697  killed,  3,983 
wounded,  338  missing.  Of  the  three  infantry  corps, 
the  Nineteenth,  though  in  numbers  smaller  than  the 
Sixth,  suffered  the  heaviest  loss,  the  aggregate  being 
2,074,  while  the  total  casualties  of  the  Sixth  Corps 
were  1,699,  and  those  of  the  West  Virginia  forces, 
794.  The  total  loss  of  the  cavalry  was  451.  The 
loss  of  the  Nineteenth  Corps  was  divided  into  314 
killed,  1,554  wounded,  206  missing.  Of  this,  far  the 
heaviest  share  fell  upon  Grover's  division,  which 
reported  1,527  against  542  in  D wight's  division. 
Dwight  reports  80  killed,  460  wounded,  2  missing ; 
Grover,  234  killed,  1,089  wounded,  204  missing;  but 
Grover  had  four  brigades  in  the  action  while  Dwight 
had  two,  and  this  nearly  represents  the  relative 
strength  of  the  two  divisions.  Of  the  brigades, 
Birge's  suffered  the  most,  having  107  killed,  349 
wounded,  69  miss*ing — together,  525  ;  while  Molineux, 
who  came  next,  had  58  killed,  362  wounded,  87  miss 
ing — together,  507  ;  yet  in  proportion  Sharpe  fared 

1  "  Hear  that !  That 's  the  voice  of  the  American  people  !  "  Thomas  is  said  to 
have  exclaimed  on  hearing  the  tremendous  cheers  of  his  men  for  their  decisive 
victory  of  Nashville. 


394  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

the  worst,  for  his  brigade,  though  but  half  as  strong 
as  Birge's,  lost  39  killed,  222  wounded,  17  missing — 
together,  278.  The  ii4th  New  York  heads  the  fatal 
record  for  the  day  with  44  killed  and  mortally 
wounded,  and  141  wounded — together,  185  out  of 
about  270  in  action — nearly  sixty-five  per  cent. 

Dwight's  report  having  been  sent  back  to  him  by 
Emory  for  correction,  and  not  again  presented,  no 
report  is  to  be  found  from  the  First  division  or  any 
portion  of  it,  except  McMillan's  brigade  and  the  i2th 
Connecticut.  The  most  useful  detailed  accounts  of 
the  part  taken  by  the  division  are  to  be  found  in  the 
admirable  histories  of  the  "  First-Tenth-Twenty- 
ninth  Maine  "  by  Major  John  M.  Gould,  and  of  the 
H4th  New  York  by  Assistant-Surgeon  Harris  H. 
Beecher. 

Prominent  among  the  slain  of  the  Nineteenth 
Corps,  besides  Lieutenant-Colonel  Peck,  already 
spoken  of,  were  Colonel  Alexander  Gardiner,  i4th 
New  Hampshire,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Willoughby 
Babcock,  75th  New  York,  Major  William  Knowlton, 
29th  Maine  and  Major  Eusebius  S.  Clark,  26th 
Massachusetts.  These  were  fine  officers,  and  their 
loss  was  deeply  deplored. 

Early  lost  nearly  4,000  in  all,  including  about  200 
prisoners.  Rodes  was  killed,  Fitzhugh  Lee  severely 
wounded.  Early  was  forced  to  leave  his  dead  and 
most  of  his  wounded  to  be  cared  for  by  the  victors, 
into  whose  hands  also  fell  five  guns  and  nine  battle- 
flags. 

Severe  military  critics  have  sometimes  been  dis 
posed  to  find  fault  with  Early,  not  merely  for  scatter 
ing  his  army — which,  though  certainly  a  fault,  was 
handsomely  made  good  by  the  rapid  concentration, — 


THE  OPEQUON.  395 

but  even  for  fighting  his  battle  at  Winchester  at  all. 
Weakened  by  the  loss  of  Kershaw,  Early  should, 
these  critics  think,  have  fallen  back  to  Fisher's  Hill 
at  the  first  sign  of  Sheridan's  advance  ;  yet  upon  a 
broad  view  it  is  difficult  to  concede  this.  The  odds 
against  Early  were  the  same  that  the  Confederates 
had  necessarily  assumed  from  the  beginning.  They 
were  desperate ;  they  could  not  possibly  be  otherwise 
than  desperate  ;  they  called  for  desperate  campaigns, 
and  these  for  desperate  battles.  Standing  on  the 
defensive  at  Fisher's  Hill,  Early  would  not  only  have 
given  up  the  main  object  of  his  campaign  and  of  his 
presence  in  the  valley,  but  would  have  exposed  him 
self  to  the  risk  of  being  cut  off  by  a  turning  column 
gaining  his  rear  by  way  of  the  Luray  valley.  Indeed, 
this  would  have  been  more  than  a  risk  ;  sooner  or 
later  it  would  have  been  a  certainty. 


CHAPTER   XXXIII. 

FISHER'S   HILL. 

THE  frowning  heights  of  Fisher's  Hill 'had  long 
been  the  bugbear  of  the  valley.  The  position  was, 
in  truth,  a  purely  defensive  one,  its  chief  value  being 
that  there  was  no  other.  Except  for  defence  it  was 
worthless,  because  it  was  as  hard  to  get  out  of  as  to 
get  at  ;  and  even  for  defence  it  was  subject  to  the 
drawback  that  it  could  be  easily  and  secretly  turned 
upon  either  flank.  In  a  word,  its  strength  resided 
mainly  in  the  fact  that  between  the  peaks  of  Massa- 
nutten  and  the  North  Mountains  the  jaws  of  the 
valley  were  contracted  to  a  width  of  not  more  than 
four  miles.  The  right  flank  of  this  shortened  front 
rests  securely  upon  the  north  fork  of  the  Shenan- 
doah,  where  it  winds  about  the  base  of  Three  Top 
Mountain  before  bending  widely  toward  the  east  to 
join  the  south  fork  and  form  the  Shenandoah  River. 
Across  the  front,  among  rocks,  between  steep  and 
broken  cliffs,  winds  the  brawling  brook  called 
Tumbling  Run,  and  above  it,  from  its  southern 
edge,  rises  the  rugged  crag  called  Fisher's  Hill. 
Here,  behind  his  old  entrenchments,  Early  gathered 
the  remnants  of  his  army  for  another  stand,  and 
began  to  strengthen  himself  by  fresh  works.  The 
danger  of  a  turning  movement  through  the  twin 
valley  of  Luray  was  in  his  mind,  and  to  guard 

396 


FISHER'S  HILL.  397 

against  it  he  sent  his  cavalry  to  Millford,  while 
Sheridan,  who  was  thinking  of  the  same  thing, 
ordered  Torbert  to  ride  up  the  Luray  valley  from 
Front  Royal. 

On  the  morning  of  the  2Oth  of  September  Sheridan 
set  out  to  follow  Early,  and  in  the  afternoon  took  up 
a  position  before  Strasburg,  the  Sixth  Corps  on  the 
right,  Emory  on  the  left,  and  Crook  behind  Cedar 
Creek  in  support.  The  next  morning,  the  2ist, 
Sheridan  pushed  and  followed  Early's  skirmishers 
over  the  high  hill  that  stands  between  Strasburg  and 
Fisher's  Hill,  overlooking  both,  drove  them  behind 
the  defences  of  Fisher's  Hill,  and  took  up  a  position 
covering  the  front  from  the  banks  of  the  North  Fork 
on  the  left,  where  Emory's  left  rested  lightly,  to  the 
crown  of  the  hill  just  mentioned,  which  commanded 
the  approach  by  what  is  called  the  back  road,  or 
Cedar  Creek  grade,  and  was  but  slightly  commanded 
by  Fisher's  Hill  itself.  This  strong  vantage-ground 
Wright  wrested  from  the  enemy  after  a  struggle,  and 
felling  the  trees  for  protection  and  for  range,  planted 
his  batteries  there.  The  ground  was  very  difficult, 
broken  and  rocky,  and  to  hold  it  the  Sixth  Corps  had 
to  be  drawn  toward  the  right,  while  Emory,  follow 
ing  the  movement,  in  the  dark  hours  of  the  early 
morning  of  the  22d  of  September,  extended  his  front 
so  as  to  cover  the  ground  thus  given  up  by  Wright. 

Sheridan  now  thought  of  nothing  short  of  the  cap 
ture  of  Early's  army.  Torbert  was  to  drive  the 
Confederate  cavalry  through  Luray,  and  thence, 
crossing  the  Massanutten  range,  was  to  lay  hold 
of  the  valley  pike  at  New  Market,  and  plant  himself 
firmly  in  Early's  rear  on  his  only  line  of  retreat. 
Crook,  by  a  wide  sweep  to  the  right,  his  march 


398  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

hidden  by  the  hills  and  woods,  was  to  gain  the  back 
road,  so  as  to  come  up  secretly  on  Early's  left  flank 
and  rear,  and  the  first  sounds  of  battle  that  were 
certain  to  follow  the  discovery  of  his  unexpected 
approach  in  this  quarter  were  to  serve  as  a  signal 
for  Wright  and  Emory  to  fall  on  with  everything 
they  had. 

During  the  forenoon  of  the  22d,  Grover  held  the 
left  of  the  position  of  the  Nineteenth  Corps,  his 
division  formed  in  two  lines  in  the  order  of  Ma- 
cauley,1  Birge ;  Shunk,  Molineux.  Dwight,  in  the 
order  of  Beal,  McMillan,  held  the  right,  and  con 
nected  with  Wheaton.  In  taking  ground  toward 
the  right,  as  already  described,  this  line  had  become 
too  extended,  and,  as  it  was  necessary  that  the  left  of 
the  skirmishers,  at  least,  should  rest  upon  the  river, 
Grover  shortened  his  front  by  moving  forward  Foster 
with  the  1 28th  and  Lewis  with  the  i;6th  New  York 
to  drive  in  the  enemy's  skirmishers  opposite,  and  to 
occupy  the  ground  that  they  had  been  holding.  This 
was  handsomely  done  under  cover  of  a  brisk  shelling 
from  Taft's  and  Bradbury's  guns.  As  on  the  rest  of 
the  line,  the  whole  front  of  the  corps  was  covered 
as  usual  by  hasty  entrenchments.  In  the  afternoon 
Ricketts  moved  far  to  the  right,  and  seized  a  wooded 
knoll  commanding  Ramseur's  position  on  Fisher's 
Hill.  In  preparation  for  the  attack  Sheridan  gave 
Emory  the  ground  on  the  left  of  the  railway,  and 
Wright  that  beyond  it,  and  Molineux  moved  forward 
to  lead  the  advance  of  Grover.  The  sun  was  low 
when  the  noise  of  battle  was  heard  far  away  on 

1  As  the  wounding  of  Sharpe  left  no  officer  present  with  his  brigade  of  higher 
rank  than  lieutenant-colonel,  Emory  took  Colonel  Daniel  Macauley,  nth 
Indiana,  from  the  4th  brigade  and  placed  him  in  command  of  the  3d. 


FISHER'S  HILL.  399 

the  right.  This  was  Crook,  sweeping  everything 
before  him  as  he  charged  suddenly  out  of  the  forest 
full  upon  the  left  flank  and  rear  of  Lomax  and  Ram- 
seur,  taking  the  whole  Confederate  line  completely 
in  reverse.  The  surprise  was  absolute.  Instantly 
Wright  and  Emory  took  up  the  movement,  and, 
inspired  by  the  presence  and  the  impetuous  com 
mands  of  Sheridan,  descended  rapidly  the  steep  and 
broken  sides  of  the  ravine,  at  the  bottom  of  which  lies 
Tumbling  Run,  and  then  rather  scrambling  than 
charging  up  the  rocky  and  almost  inaccessible  sides 
of  Fisher's  Hill,  swarmed  over  the  strong  entrench 
ments,  line  after  line,  and  planting  their  colors  upon 
the  parapets,  saw  the  whole  army  of  Early  in  dis 
orderly  flight.  Foremost  to  mount  the  parapet  was 
Entwistle  with  his  company  of  the  1 76th  New  York. 
To  them  the  good  fortune  fell  of  being  the  first  to  lay 
hands  on  four  pieces  of  artillery  in  battery,  aban 
doned  in  the  panic  caused  by  the  appearance  of 
Crook,  but  almost  at  the  same  instant  Wilson,  gal 
lantly  leading  the  28th  Iowa,  planted  the  colors  of 
his  regiment  on  the  works.  That  nothing  might  be 
wanting  to  the  completeness  of  the  victory,  the  Con 
federates,  who,  until  that  moment  had  felt  their  posi 
tion  so  secure  that  they  had  even  taken  the  am 
munition  boxes  from  the  caissons,  abandoned  sixteen 
pieces  of  artillery  where  they  stood.  Early  was 
unable  to  arrest  the  retreat  of  his  army  until  he 
found  himself  near  Edenburg,  four  miles  beyond 
Woodstock. 

Sheridan's  loss  in  this  battle  was  52  killed,  457 
wounded,  19  missing,  in  all,  528.  Of  this  the  Sixth 
Corps  suffered  nearly  half,  namely,  27  killed,  208 
wounded,  3  missing,  in  all,  238.  Crook's  loss  was  8 


400  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

killed,  152  wounded,  2  missing,  total  162,  and 
Emory  accounts  for  15  killed,  86  wounded,  13  miss 
ing,  together  114.  All  the  casualties  of  the  cavalry 
numbered  but  14.  Early  reports  his  loss  in  the 
infantry  and  artillery  alone  as  30  killed,  210  wounded, 
995  missing,  total  1,235  >  but  Sheridan  claims  1,100 
prisoners. 

Now  came  Torbert's  opportunity,  but  unfortu 
nately,  after  suffering  a  check  from  the  two  brigades 
of  Fitzhugh  Lee  under  Wickham,  Torbert  had  on 
the  22d  fallen  back  down  the  Luray  valley  toward  his 
starting-point,  and  when  on  the  afternoon  of  the  23d 
word  came  to  him  of  what  had  happened  at  Fisher's 
Hill,  although  he  again  advanced,  he  was  then  too 
late.  Thus  for  once  the  cavalry  column  completely 
failed.  Sheridan,  from  the  tenor  of  his  despatches 
from  Torbert,  must  have  felt  that  this  result  was 
probable,  but  he  did  not  let  it  disturb  his  own  move 
ments,  and  without  a  halt  he  pushed  forward  his  whole 
force  in  pursuit,  with  slight  regard  to  organization, 
each  regiment  or  brigade  nearly  in  the  order  in  which 
it  chanced  to  file  into  the  road.  Devin's  cavalry 
brigade  trod  closely  on  the  heels  of  what  was  left  of 
Lomax,  and  Emory,  whose  line  had  crossed  the 
valley  road,  pushed  up  it  as  fast  as  the  men  could 
move  over  the  ground.  Wright  moved  in  close  sup 
port  of  Emory  and  personally  directed  the  operations 
of  both  corps,  the  Nineteenth  as  well  as  the 'Sixth. 
So  fast  did  the  infantry  march  that  it  was  ten  o'clock 
at  night  before  Devin,  from  his  place  in  line  on  the 
right  of  the  Sixth  Corps,  was  able  to  take  the  road 
abreast  with  the  Nineteenth,  and  broad  daylight  be 
fore  his  or  any  other  horsemen  passed  the  hardy  yet 
toil-worn  foot-soldiers  of  Molineux,  who  were  left  all 


O/V£T     MILE 


FISHER'S  HILL. 

SEPTEMBER  22,    1864.      FROM   THE  OFFICIAL  MAP. 


FISHER'S  HILL.  401 

night  to  lead  the  swift  pursuit.  Molineux  caused 
Day  to  deploy  the  i3ist  New  York  as  skirmishers  on 
the  right  of  the  road,  while  the  nth  Indiana,  led  by 
Macauley,  performed  the  same  service  on  the  left. 
About  half-past  eight  the  head  of  the  column  first 
came  in  contact  with  the  rear-guard  of  the  enemy, 
but  this  was  soon  driven  in,  and  no  further  resistance 
was  offered  until  about  an  hour  later,  at  the  crossing 
of  a  creek  near  Woodstock,  a  brisk  fire  of  musketry, 
aided  by  two  guns  in  the  road,  was  opened  on  Moli- 
neux's  front,  but  was  quickly  silenced.  At  dawn  on 
the  23d  of  September  Sheridan  went  into  bivouac 
covering  Woodstock,  and  let  the  infantry  rest  until 
early  in  the  afternoon,  when  he  again  took  up  the 
pursuit  with  Wright  and  Emory,  leaving  Crook  to 
care  for  the  dead  and  wounded.  Early  fell  back  to 
Mount  Jackson,  and  was  preparing  to  make  a  stand 
when  Averell  coming  up,  he  and  Devin  made  so 
vigorous  a  demonstration  with  the  cavalry  alone  that 
Early  thought  it  best  to  continue  his  retreat  beyond 
the  North  Fork  to  Rude's  Hill,  which  stands  between 
Mount  Jackson  and  New  Market. 

Sheridan  advanced  to  Mount  Jackson  on  the  morn 
ing  of  the  24th  of  September,  and  before  nightfall 
had  concentrated  his  whole  army  there.  He  was 
moving  his  cavalry  to  envelop  both  of  Early's  flanks 
and  the  infantry,  Wright  leading,  to  attack  in  front. 
However,  Early  did  not  wait  for  this,  but  retreated 
rapidly  in  order  of  battle,  pursued  by  Sheridan  in  the 
same  order,  that  is  by  the  right  of  regiments  with  an 
attempt  at  deploying  intervals,  through  New  Market 
and  six  miles  beyond  to  a  point  where  a  country  road 
diverges  through  Keezeltown  and  Cross  Keys  to  Port 
Republic,  at  the  head  of  the  South  Fork.  Here  both 


402  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

armies  halted  face  to  face,  Sheridan  for  the  night ; 
but  Early,  as  soon  as  it  was  fairly  dark,  fell  back 
about  five  miles  on  the  Port  Republic  road,  and  again 
halted  at  a  point  about  fourteen  miles  short  of  that 
town. 

Early 's  object  in  quitting  the  main  valley  road, 
'which  would  have  conducted  him  to  Harrisonburg, 
covering  Staunton,  was  to  receive  once  more  the  re 
inforcements  that  Lee,  at  the  first  tidings  from  Win 
chester,  had  again  hurried  forward  under  Kershaw. 
On  the  25th  of  September,  therefore,  Early  retreated 
through  Port  Republic  toward  Brown's  Gap,  where 
Kershaw,  marching  from  Culpeper  through  Swift 
Run  Gap,  joined  him  on  the  26th.  Here  also  Early's 
cavalry  rejoined  him,  Wickham  from  the  Luray  valley, 
and  Lomax,  pressed  by  Powell,  from  Harrisonburg. 

Sheridan,  keeping  to  the  main  road,  advanced  to 
Harrisonburg  with  Wright  and  Emory,  leaving  Crook 
to  hold  the  fork  of  the  roads  where  Early  had  turned 
off.  At  Harrisonburg  Torbert  rejoined  with  Merritt 
and  Wilson.  Then  Sheridan  sent  Torbert  with  Wil 
son  and  Lowell  by  Staunton  to  Waynesboro',  where, 
before  quitting  the  valley  by  Rockfish  Gap,  the  main 
road,  as  well  as  the  railway  to  Charlottesville,  crosses 
the  affluent  of  the  Shenandoah  known  as  the  South 
River.  To  divert  attention  from  this  raid  Sheridan 
reinforced  Devin,  who,  in  the  absence  of  Torbert's 
main  body,  had  been  following  and  observing  Early 
near  Port  Republic  without  other  cavalry  support, 
and  thus  Merritt  presently  ran  into  Kershaw  march 
ing  to  join  Early  at  Brown's  Gap.  Early,  having 
gone  as  far  as  he  wished,  turned  upon  Merritt  and 
drove  him  across  the  South  Fork,  but  just  then 
getting  the  first  inkling  of  Torbert's  movements, 


FISHERS  HILL.  403 

divined  their  purpose,  and,  to  check  them,  marched 
with  all  speed,  in  compact  order  and  with  the  greatest 
watchfulness  in  every  direction,  on  Rockfish  Gap.  But 
Torbert,  having  a  good  start,  won  the  race,  and  had 
accomplished  his  object  when  the  advance  of  Early's 
column  came  up,  and  caused  him  to  draw  off. 

Sheridan,  on  his  part,  had  gone  nearly  as  far  as  he 
intended,  but  as  he  meant  presently  to  begin  with  his 
cavalry  above  Staunton  the  work  of  destroying  the 
value  of  the  whole  valley  to  the  Confederate  army, 
on  the  29th  he  ordered  Wright  and  Emory  to  Mount 
Crawford  to  support  Torbert  in  this  work. 

Grant,  who,  ever  since  he  reached  the  James,  had 
cast  longing  eyes  upon  the  Virginia  Central  railway, 
as  well  as  upon  the  great  junction  at  Gordonsville, 
now  strongly  desired  Sheridan  to  go  to  Staunton  or 
Charlottesville,  but  Sheridan  set  himself  firmly  against 
the  plan  on  account  of  the  daily  increasing  difficulty 
of  supplying  his  army  and  the  great  force  that  must 
be  wasted  in  any  attempt  to  keep  open  a  line  of  com 
munication  longer  or  more  exposed  than  that  he  already 
had  to  maintain.  As  an  alternative,  Sheridan,  who 
seems  to  have  thought  Early  had  quitted  the  valley 
for  good,  proposed  to  bring  the  Valley  campaign  to 
an  end  with  the  destruction  of  the  crops,  and  then  to 
move  with  his  main  force  to  join  Grant  on  the  James. 
Grant,  at  once  agreeing  to  this,  directed  Sheridan  to 
keep  Crook  in  the  valley  and  to  transfer  the  rest  of 
his  force  to  the  armies  before  Richmond. 

On  the  morning  of  the  6th  of  October  Sheridan 
faced  about  and  began  moving  down  the  valley,  the 
infantry  leading  in  the  inverse  order  of  its  advance 
and  the  cavalry  bringing  up  the  rear  in  one  long  line 
that  reached  from  mountain  to  mountain,  busied  in 


404          THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

burning  as  it  marched  the  mills,  the  barns,  and  every 
thing  edible  by  man  or  beast.  From  the  Blue  Ridge 
to  the  Shenandoah  Mountains,  nothing  was  spared 
that  might  be  of  use  to  the  Confederates  in  prolonging 
the  war. 

When  Early  discovered  this  he  followed  on  the 
morning  of  the  7th  of  October,  with  his  whole  force, 
including  Kershaw,  as  well  as  the  cavalry  brigade  of 
Rosser,  sent  by  Lee  from  Petersburg.  The  command 
of  all  the  cavalry  being  given  to  Rosser,  he  at  once 
began  treading  on  the  heels  of  Torbert.  On  the  Qth 
at  Tom's  Brook,  Torbert,  under  the  energetic  orders 
of  Sheridan  to  whip  the  Confederate  cavalry  or  get 
whipped  himself,  turned  upon  Rosser,  and,  after  a 
sharp  fight,  completely  overwhelmed  him  and  hotly 
pursued  his  flying  columns  more  than  twenty  miles 
up  the  valley.  Several  hundred  prisoners,  eleven 
guns  with  their  caissons,  and  many  wagons — tersely 
described  by  Sheridan  "as  almost  everything  on 
wheels" — fell  into  the  hands  of  the  captors.  But 
more  important  even  than  these  trophies,  confidence 
in  Rosser's  cavalry  was  destroyed  at  a  blow,  and  its 
early  prestige  wiped  out  forever. 

On  the  loth  of  October  Sheridan  once  more  crossed 
Cedar  Creek  and  went  into  camp,  Emory  holding  the 
right  or  west  of  the  valley  road,  Crook  on  the  left  or 
east  of  the  road,  and  the  cavalry  covering  the  flanks. 
Wright  took  up  the  line  of  march  by  Front  Royal 
on  Washington. 

The  first  intention  of  the  government  was  that  he 
should  take  advantage  of  the  Manassas  Gap  railway, 
which  was  again  being  restored  under  the  protection 
of  Augur's  troops  ;  but  this  work  was  not  yet  com 
pleted,  and  while  Wright  waited  at  Front  Royal, 


FISHER'S  HILL.  405 

Grant  once  more  fell  back  on  his  first  and  favorite 
plan  of  a  movement  on  Charlottesville  and  Gordons- 
ville.  To  effect  this  he  wished  Sheridan  to  take  up 
an  advanced  position  toward  the  head  of  the  valley, 
and  to  this  the  government  added  its  favorite  notion 
of  rebuilding  the  railways  in  the  rear.  Halleck  even 
went  so  far  as  to  instruct  Sheridan  to  fortify  and 
provision  heavily  the  position  Grant  had  directed  him 
to  occupy.  All  these  ideas  Sheridan  combated  with 
such  earnestness  that  he  was  summoned  to  Wash 
ington  for  consultation.  Grant  at  the  same  time  re 
duced  his  call  on  Sheridan  for  troops  for  service  on 
the  James  to  the  Sixth  Corps,  and  Sheridan,  having 
on  his  own  motion  stopped  the  work  on  the  Manassas 
Gap  railway,  ordered  Wright  to  march  on  Alexandria 
by  Ashby's  Gap.  Wright  set  out  on  the  i2th. 

Sheridan  having  lost  touch  with  the  main  body  of 
the  Confederates  in  returning  down  the  valley,  he,  in 
common  with  Grant  and  with  the  government,  now 
thought  that  Early  had  quitted  the  region  for  good. 
Sheridan's  information  placed  Early  variously  at 
Gordonsville,  Charlottesville,  and  in  the  neighbor 
hood  of  Brown's  Gap  ;  but  in  truth,  though  nothing 
had  been  seen  of  Early's  troops  for  some  days,  they 
had  never  gone  out  of  the  valley,  but  had  slowly  and 
at  a  long  and  safe  interval  been  following  Sheridan's 
footsteps,  so  that  on  the  I3th,  while  Wright  was  well 
on  his  way  towards  Alexandria,  and  Sheridan  himself 
was  getting  ready  to  go  to  Washington,  Early  once 
more  took  post  at  Fisher's  Hill,  and  sent  his  advance 
guard  directly  on  to  Hupp's  Hill  to  look  down  into 
the  Union  camps  on  the  farther  bank  of  Cedar  Creek 
and  see  what  was  going  on  there.  The  first  news  of 
Early's  presence,  within  two  miles  of  the  Union 


406  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

camp,  at  the  very  moment  when  he  was  thought  to 
be  sixty  miles  away  on  the  line  of  the  Virginia  Cen 
tral  railway,  was  brought  by  the  shells  his  artillery 
suddenly  dropped  among  the  tents  of  Crook.  Tho- 
burn  at  once  moved  out  to  capture  the  battery  whose 
missiles  had  presented  themselves  as  uninvited  guests 
at  his  dinner-table,  but  was  met  by  Kershaw  and 
driven  back  after  a  sharp  fight.  Custer,  who  was 
covering  the  right  flank  of  the  army,  was  assailed  at 
the  same  time  by  the  Confederate  cavalry,  but  easily 
threw  off  the  attack.  At  the  first  sound  Torbert  sent 
Merritt  from  the  left  to  the  support  of  Custer,  and 
afterward  Sheridan  kept  him  there. 

When  on  the  I2th  of  October  Sheridan  received 
Grant's  definite  instructions  for  the  movement  on 
Gordonsville  and  Charlottesville,  he  ceased  to  offer 
any  further  opposition,  yet,  realizing  that  he  would 
need  his  whole  force,  he  withdrew  the  order  for 
Wright's  movement  on  Alexandria  and  sent  him 
word  to  come  back  to  Cedar  Creek.  The  head  of 
Wright's  column  was  wading  the  Shenandoah  when 
these  orders  overtook  it.  Wright  at  once  faced 
about,  and  on  the  next  day,  the  i4th  of  October, 
went  into  camp  behind  the  lines  of  Cedar  Creek  on 
the  right  and  rear  of  Emory.  No  change  was  made 
in  the  positions  of  the  other  troops,  because,  until 
Sheridan's  return  from  Washington,  the  policy  and 
plan  of  the  campaign  must  remain  unsettled,  and 
Wright  might  at  any  moment  be  called  upon  to 
resume  his  march. 

On  the  1 5th  of  October  Sheridan  received  fresh 
instructions  from  Grant,  limiting  the  proposed  move 
ment  on  Charlottesville  and  Gordonsville  to  a  serious 
menace,  instead  of  an  occupation,  and  again  reducing 


FISHER'S  HILL.  407 

the  call  for  troops  to  a  single  division  of  cavalry. 
Sheridan  at  once  set  Merritt  in  motion  toward  Ches 
ter  Gap,  directing  Powell  to  follow,  and  he  himself 
rode  with  Merritt  to  Front  Royal,  meaning  to  pay 
his  postponed  visit  to  the  Secretary  of  War  at  Wash 
ington  ;  but  on  the  i6th,  before  quitting  Front  Royal, 
he  was  overtaken  by  an  officer  from  Wright  bringing 
the  words  of  the  strange  message  read  off  by  our 
signal  officers  from  the  waving  flags  of  the  Con 
federates  in  plain  sight  on  the  crest  of  Three  Top 
Mountain.1  This  message  purported  to  have  been 
sent  by  Longstreet  to  Early.  "  Be  ready,"  it  said, 
"  to  move  as  soon,  as  my  forces  join  you,  and  we  will 
crush  Sheridan."  The  true  story  of  this  despatch  has 
not  until  now  been  made  public,2  and  many  are  the 
surmises,  clever  or  stupid,  that  have  been  wasted 
upon  the  mystery.  In  fact,  the  message  was,  as  both 
Sheridan  and  Wright  naturally  inferred,  a  trick  in- 

1  According   to    Sheridan,    agreeing   with   the   general    recollection   of    the 
survivors  ;  but  Wright  and  Early  both  say  Round  Top,  which  is  behind  Fisher's 
Hill.     Might  not  the  message  sent  from  Round  Top  have  been  repeated  from 
Three  Top  ? 

2  To  the  courtesy  and  kindness  of  General  Early,  the  author  is  greatly  indebted 
for  the  key  to  the  riddle.    Under  date  of  Lynchburg,  Virginia,  November  6,  1890, 
he  writes  :     "  The  signal  message    .     .    .    was  altogether  fictitious.    As  Sheri 
dan's  troops  occupied  the  north  bank  of  Cedar  Creek  in  such  a  strong  position 
as  to  render  it  impracticable  for  me  to  attack  them  in  front,  I  went  to  the  signal 
station  just  in  my  rear  for  the  purpose  of  examining  the  position,  and  I  found 
the  officer  in  charge  of  the  station  reading  some  signals  that  were  being  sent  by 
the  Federal  signal  agents.     I  then  asked  him  if  the  other  side  could  read  his 
signals  and  he  told  me  that  they  had  discovered  the  key  to  the  signals  formerly 
used,  but  that  a  change  had  been  made.     I  then  wrote  the  message  purporting 
to  be  from  Longstreet  and  had  it  signalled  in  full  view  of  the  Federal  signal 
men  whom  we  saw  on  the  hill  in  front  of  my  position,  so  that  it  might  be  read 
by  them.     My  object  was  to  induce  Sheridan  to  move  back  his  troops  from  the 
position  they  then  occupied,  and  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  if  he  had  then  been 
present  with  his  command  he  would  have  done  so.     However,  the  movement 
was  not  made,  and  I  then  determined  to  make  the  attack  which  was  made  on 
the  igth  of  October.     The  object  of  that  attack  was  to  prevent  any  troops  from 
being  returned  to  Grant's  army." 


408  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

tended  to  deceive  them  ;  Early  thought  to  induce 
them  to  move  back  without  waiting  for  the  attack 
which,  with  his  reduced  strength,  he  wished  to  avoid. 
The  effect  was  to  put  the  Union  commanders  on 
their  guard  against  what  was  actually  about  to  hap 
pen.  Therefore  Sheridan  instantly  turned  back  all 
the  cavalry  save  one  regiment,  which  he  kept  for  an 
escort,  and  rode  on  to  Rectortown,  and  so  went  by 
rail  to  Washington — first,  however,  taking  the  pre 
caution  to  warn  Wright  to  strengthen  his  position, 
to  close  in  Powell  from  Front  Royal,  to  look  well  to 
his  ground,  and  to  be  prepared.  In  his  official  report 
of  the  campaign,  Sheridan,  speaking  of  the  events 
now  to  be  related,  said  : 

"  This  surprise  was  owing  probably  to  not  closing  in  Powell  or 
that  the  cavalry  divisions  of  Merritt  and  Custer  were  placed  on 
the  right  of  our  line,  where  it  had  always  occurred  to  me  there 
was  but  little  danger  of  attack." 

But  it  is  important  to  observe  and  remember  that, 
although  Wright,  in  sending  Longstreet's  message, 
had  remarked — 

"  If  the  enemy  should  be  strongly  reinforced  in  cavalry  he  might, 
by  turning  to  my  right,  give  us  a  great  deal  of  trouble.  ...  I 
shall  only  fear  an  attack  on  my  right," 

yet  Sheridan-  in  his  reply  made  no  allusion  to  any 
difference  of  opinion  on  his  part  as  to  the  point 
of  danger.  His  instructions  to  close  in  Powell, 
Torbert,  under  Wright's  direction,  executed  by  call 
ing  in  Moore's  brigade  to  cover  Buckton's  Ford,  on 
the  left  and  rear  of  Crook.  Powell,  with  the  rest  of 
his  division,  was  left  at  Front  Royal  to  hold  off 
Lomax. 

Sheridan  went  on  to  Washington.  Arriving  there 
on  the  morning  of  the  I7th,  he  at  once  asked  for 


FISHER'S  HILL.  409 

a  special  train  to  take  him  to  Martinsburg  at  noon, 
and  having,  between  a  late  breakfast  and  an  early 
luncheon,  transacted  all  his  business  at  the  War 
Office,  including  the  conversion  of  the  government 
to  his  views,  set  out  to  rejoin  his  command.  With 
him  went  two  engineer  officers,  Alexander  and  Thorn, 
with  whom  he  was  to  consult  as  to  the  best  point,  if 
any,  in  the  lower  valley  to  be  fortified  and  held ;  for 
this  venerable  error  was  not  dead,  merely  sleeping. 

Torbert  rejoined  the  army  at  Cedar  Creek  on  the 
1 6th,  and  Merritt  took  up  his  old  position  on  the 
right.  On  the  same  night  Rosser  took  one  of  his 
brigades  with  a  brigade  of  infantry  mounted  behind 
the  horsemen,  and,  supported  by  the  whole  of  Early's 
army,  set  out  to  capture  the  outlying  brigade  of  Cus- 
ter's  division,  but  found  instead  a  single  troop  on 
picket  duty.  This  he  took,  but  it  was  a  rather 
mortifying  issue  to  his  heavy  preparations  and  great 
expectations,  and  a  long  price  to  pay  for  putting 
Torbert  on  the  alert. 

For  the  next  two  days  nothing  was  seen  of  Early, 
although  the  cavalry  and  both  of  the  infantry  corps  of 
the  main  line  kept  a  good  watch  toward  the  front. 
There  was  some  probability  that  Early  would  attack, 
especially  if  he  should  have  heard  of  Wright's  de 
parture  and  not  of  his  return.  That  Early  must 
either  attack  soon  or  withdraw  to  the  head  of  the 
valley  was  certain,  for  Sheridan  had  stripped  the 
country  of  the  supplies  on  which  the  Confederates 
had  been  accustomed  to  rely,  and  Early  had  now  to 
feed  his  men  and  animals  by  the  long  haul  of  seventy- 
five  miles  from  Staunton.  It  was  thus  that  Wright 
viewed  the  situation,  and  in  fact  the  same  things  were 
passing  through  the  mind  of  Early.  On  the  i8th  of 


4io  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

October,  Crook,  by  Wright's  orders,  sent  Harris 
with  his  brigade  of  Thoburn's  division,  to  find  out 
where  Early  really  was  and  what  he  was  doing. 
How  far  Harris  went  is  not  certainly  known,  but 
when  he  returned  at  nightfall  he  reported  that  he 
had  been  to  Early's  old  camps  and  found  them  evacu 
ated.  In  reality  Early  was  at  Fisher's  Hill  with  his 
whole  force,  engaged  in  his  last  preparations  for  the 
surprise  of  the  morrow,  but  the  report  brought  back 
by  Harris  soon  spread  as  a  camp  rumor  among  the 
officers  and  men  of  Crook,  so  that  they  may  have 
slept  that  night  without  thought  of  danger  near, 
and  even  the  vigilance  of  their  picket  line,  as  well 
as  that  of  the  cavalry  to  whom  they  largely  looked 
for  protection  against  a  surprise,  may  or  may  not  have 
been  inopportunely  relaxed. 

For  Early,  warned  of  the  strength  of  Sheridan's 
right,  by  the  failure  of  Rosser's  adventure,  had  since 
been  studying  the  chances  of  an  attack  on  the  oppo 
site  flank.  To  this  indeed  the  very  difficulty  of  the 
approach  invited,  for  in  all  wars  enterprises  appa 
rently  impracticable  have  been  carelessly  guarded 
against  and  positions  apparently  impregnable  have 
been  loosely  watched  and  lightly  defended,  so  that  it 
might  not  be  too  much  to  say  that  every  insur 
mountable  difficulty  has  been  surmounted  and  every 
impregnable  stronghold  taken.  Such  apprehensions 
as  the  commander  of  the  Union  army  may  be  sup 
posed  to  have  entertained  were  directed  toward  his 
right,  where  Torbert  was,  and  where  the  back  road  to 
Winchester  gave  easy  access  to  his  rear. 

While  Early  was  engaged  in  considering  this  plan, 
he  sent  Gordon,  accompanied  by  Major  Hotchkiss  of 
the  engineers,  to  the  signal  station  on  the  crest  of 


FISHER'S  HILL.  411 

Three  Top  Mountain  to  examine  the  position  of  the 
Union  army  and  to  study  the  details  of  the  proposed 
movement.  From  this  height  these  officers  looked 
down  upon  the  country  about  Cedar  Creek  as  upon 
an  amphitheatre  and  saw  the  Union  camps  as  in  a 
panorama.  Every  feature  was  in  plain  view  ;  they 
counted  the  tents  ;  they  noted  the  dispositions  for 
attack ;  they  made  out  the  exact  situation  of  the 
various  headquarters  ;  and  casting  careful  glances 
into  the  shadowy  depths  of  the  Shenandoah,  winding 
about  the  foot  of  the  mountain  far  below  them,  they 
perceived  that  the  flank  of  Three  Top  afforded  a 
footing  for  the  passage  of  the  infantry  at  least.  Upon 
this  information  Early  was  not  long  in  deciding  upon 
his  course.  Under  cover  of  the  night  he  would  send 
the  divisions  of  Gordon,  Ramseur,  and  Pegram,1  all 
under  the  command  of  Gordon,  over  the  Shenandoah 
near  Fisher's  Hill,  across  the  ox-bow,  to  the  foot  of 
Three  Top.  Thence  picking  his  way  over  the  foot 
of  the  mountain,  Gordon  in  two  columns  was  to  cross 
the  river  a  second  time  at  Mclnturff's  Ford,  just 
below  the  mouth  of  Cedar  Creek  and  at  Bowman's 
Ford,  seven  hundred  yards  below.  There  he  would 
find  himself  on  the  flank  and  in  easy  reach  of  the 
rear  of  Crook,  and  indeed  of  the  whole  Union  army, 
with  nothing  but  a  thin  line  of  pickets  to  hinder  the 
rush.  While  Gordon  was  thus  stealthily  creeping 
into  position  for  his  spring,  Early  meant  to  take 
Kershaw  and  Wharton  upon  the  valley  road  and 
quietly  to  gain  a  good  position  for  assailing  Crook 
and  Emory  in  front,  as  soon  as  the  rifles  of  Gordon 
should  be  heard  toward  the  rear.  Rosser  was  to 

1  Observe  that   Ramseur  was  now  commanding  the  division  that  had  been 
Rodes's  ;  Pegram  having  succeeded  to  Ramseur's  old  division. 


4i2  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

drive  in  the  cavalry  on  the  right  of  the  Union  army, 
while  Lomax,  from  the  Luray,  was  expected  to  gain 
the  valley  road  somewhere  near  Newtown,  so  as  to 
cut  off  the  retreat.  Everything  that  could  jingle  or 
rattle  was  to  be  left  behind,  and  the  march  was  to  be 
made  in  dead  silence,  while,  as  the  rumble  of  the 
guns  would  be  sure  to  reveal  the  movement,  the 
whole  of  the  artillery  was  massed  at  Strasburg,  all 
ready  to  gallop  to  the  front  as  soon  as  the  battle 
should  begin. 

A  closer  study  of  the  trail  showed  Gordon  that  it 
would  be  possible,  however  difficult  and  risky,  for 
dismounted  troopers  to  lead  their  horses  over  the 
path  already  marked  out  for  his  infantry.  Accord 
ingly  the  cavalry  brigade  of  Payne  was  added  to 
Gordon's  column,  and  after  surprising  and  making 
good  the  passage  of  the  fords,  the  first  duty  of  these 
horsemen  was  to  ride  straight  to  Belle  Grove  House 
and  capture  Sheridan.  Early  supposed  Sheridan  to 
be  still  present  in  command. 

Bold  as  was  Early's  design  of  surprising  and  at 
tacking  the  vastly  superior  forces  of  Sheridan,  under 
conditions  that  must  inevitably  stake  everything  upon 
the  hazard  of  complete  success,  it  may  well  be 
doubted  whether  in  the  whole  history  of  war  an 
instance  can  be  found  of  any  similar  plan  so  carefully 
and  successfully  arranged  and  so  completely  carried 
out  in  every  detail,  up  to  the  moment  that  must  be 
looked  for  in  the  execution  of  every  operation  of 
war,  when  the  shock  of  battle  comes  and  puts  even 
the  wisest  prevision  in  suspense. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

CEDAR  CREEK. 

THE  ground  whereon  the  Army  of  the  Shenandoah 
now  found  itself  was  the  same  on  which  Sheridan 
had  left  it,  the  troops  were  the  same,  and  the  forma 
tions  were  in  all  important  particulars  the  same 
as  when  he  had  been  present  in  command,  strength 
ened,  however,  by  additional  entrenchments.  Twice 
before  the  army  had  occupied  the  same  line,  and 
on  both  occasions  Sheridan  had  emphatically  con 
demned  it  as  a  very  bad  one.  Briefly,  the  position 
was  formed  by  the  last  great  outward  bend  of 
Cedar  Creek  before  its  waters  mingle  with  those  of 
the  Shenandoah,  the  left  flank  resting  lightly  on  the 
river,  the  centre  strongly  across  the  valley  road, 
and  the  extreme  right  on  the  creek  near  the  end  of 
the  bow. 

Crook  held  a  high  and  partly  wooded  height  or 
range  of  heights  on  the  left  or  east  *  of  the  valley 
road,  and  nearly  parallel  with  it.  Thoburn  occupied 
the  most  advanced  spur  overlooking  the  mouth  of  the 
creek,  while  on  his  left  and  rear  Hayes  and  Kitching 
faced  toward  the  Shenandoah  with  their  backs  to  the 
road.  As  the  road  descended  to  cross  Cedar  Creek 

1  Strictly  southeast,  for  the  course  of  the  turnpike  toward  Winchester  is  about 
northeast. 

413 


4H  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

by  the  bridge  l  and  ford,  it  followed  the  course  of  a 
rivulet  on  its  left,  and  three  quarters  of  a  mile  from 
Crook,  on  the  opposite  side  of  this  ravine  and  of  the 
road,  Emory  was  posted  on  a  hill  whose  crest  rose 
steeply  a  hundred  and  fifty  feet  above  the  bed  of  the 
creek.  Here  Emory  planted  nearly  the  whole  of  his 
artillery  to  command  the  bridge  and  the  neighboring 
ford  and  the  approaches  on  the  opposite  bank,  but 
the  slope  and  crest  of  this  hill  were  completely  and 
easily  commanded  from  the  higher  ground  held  by 
Thoburn  and  by  Hayes.  From  the  valley  road  on 
the  left,  Emory's  line  stretched  crescent-wise,  until 
its  right  rested  upon  a  natural  bastion  formed  by 
the  highest  part  of  the  hill,  whence  the  descent  is 
precipitous,  not  only  to  the  creek  in  front,  but  on  the 
flank  to  the  gorge  of  Meadow  Brook.  This  little 
stream  rising  some  miles  farther  north  near  Newtown, 
and  flowing  now  between  high  banks  and  again 
through  marshy  borders  in  a  general  direction  nearly 
parallel  to  the  road,  empties  into  Cedar  Creek  about 
three  quarters  of  a  mile  above  the  bridge.  Just 
below  the  mouth  of  the  brook  Cedar  Creek  can  be 
crossed  by  a  ford  lying  nearly  in  a  direct  prolongation 
of  the  line  of  the  valley  road  from  the  point  where  in 
descending  it  swerves  to  the  east  to  pass  the  bridge, 
and  midway  between  the  bridge  and  the  Meadow 
Brook  ford  is  still  another  ford  overlooked  by 
Emory's  right  wing  and  commanded  by  the  guns  of 
his  artillery.  Dwight's  division  formed  the  right  of 
Emory's  line  and  Grover's  the  left.  From  right  to 
left  the  front  line  was  composed  of  the  brigades  of 
Thomas,  Molinetix,  Birge,  and  Macauley,  with  Davis 

1  The  present  bridge  is  a  short  distance  above  where  the  old  one  was. 


CEDAR  CREEK.  415 

in  reserve  supporting  Thomas,  and  Shunk,  likewise 
in  reserve,  supporting  Macauley  and  Birge.1 

The  fronts  of  Emory  and  of  Crook  overlooking  the 
creek  were  strongly  entrenched,  and  Crook  was  en 
gaged  in  extending  his  line  of  works  toward  the  left 
and  rear  of  Thoburn  to  cover  the  front  of  Pi  ayes, 
but  this  fresh  line  was  as  yet  unoccupied.  Wright's 
corps,  commanded  by  Ricketts  during  the  absence  of 
Sheridan,  while  Wright  himself  commanded  the  army, 
was  held  in  reserve  on  the  high  ground  known  as 
Red  Hill  overlooking  Meadow  Brook  from  the  east 
ward,  the  divisions  encamped  for  convenience  in  a 
sort  of  irregular  echelon,  with  Ricketts's,  under  Keifer, 
in  front,  Upton's,  commanded  by  Wheaton,  on  the 
right  and  rear  in  close  support,  and  Getty's  on  the 
left  and  rear  of  both,  and  thus  nearer  to  the  valley 
road  than  either.  Behind  the  Sixth  Corps,  opposite 
Middletown,  on  the  high  ground  on  both  sides  of 
Marsh  Run,  was  Merritt,  and  far  away  on  his  right, 
watching  the  approaches  and  the  crossing  by  the 
back  road,  stood  Custer. 

As  the  Sixth  Corps  held  no  part  of  the  front,  but 
formed  a  general  reserve,  its  position  was  not  en 
trenched.  Torbert,  Emory,  and  Crook  each  picketed 
and  watched  his  own  front,  and  there  was  not  a 
horseman  between  the  infantry  and  the  supposed 
position  of  the  enemy  at  or  beyond  Fisher's  Hill. 

Emory  had  for  some  days  been  distrustful  of  the 
excessive  tranquillity,  and  on  the  previous  evening 
his  uneasiness  had  rather  been  augmented  by  a  report 

1  Dwight  having  been  in  arrest  during  the  past  fortnight  by  Emory's  orders 
under  charges  growing  out  of  criticisms  and  statements  made  in  his  report  of 
the  battle  of  the  Opequon,  McMillan  commanded  the  First  division,  leaving 
his  brigade  to  Thomas.  Beal  had  gone  home  on  leave  of  absence  when  the 
campaign  seemed  ended,  and  Davis  commanded  his  brigade. 


416  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

that  came  to  him  from  Thomas  of  a  little  group  of 
men  in  citizens'  dress  that  had  been  seen  during  the 
day  moving  about  on  the  edge  of  Hupp's  Hill,  as  if 
engaged  in  noting  with  more  intentness  than  is  usual 
among  civilians  the  arrangement  of  the  Union  camps. 
This  incident  Emory  reported  to  Wright  for  what  it 
might  be  worth,  and  Wright,  on  his  part,  being  already 
doubtful  of  the  exactness  of  the  information  brought 
in  by  Harris,  ordered  Emory  and  Torbert  each  to 
send  out  a  strong  reconnoitring  party  in  the  early 
morning,  to  move  in  parallel  columns  on  the  valley 
road  and  on  the  back  road,  with  the  significant  cau 
tion  that  they  were  to  go  far  enough  to  find  out 
whether  Early  was  still  at  Fisher's  Hill  or  not. 

After  crossing  the  Shenandoah  and  reaching  the 
foot  of  Three  Top,  Gordon  halted  his  men  for  a  few 
hours'  rest  before  the  hard  work  awaiting  them.  At 
one  o'clock  he  silently  took  up  the  line  of  march  over 
the  rugged  trail  toward  Mclnturff's  and  Bowman's 
fords,  and  at  five  o'clock  seized  both  crossings,  with 
the  merest  show  of  resistance  from  Moore's  outlying 
brigade,  and  pressed  on  to  Cooley's  house,  the  white 
house  he  had  noted  from  Three  Top.  This  land 
mark,  as  he  knew,  was  barely  thirteen  hundred  yards 
from  the  nearest  flank  of  his  enemy.  He  passed 
nearly  half  that  distance  beyond  the  house  and,  as 
pre-arranged,  silently  formed  his  three  divisions  for 
the  attack.  Within  five  minutes  he  could  be  in 
Kitching's  camp. 

At  the  last  moment,  hearing  that  Crook  was 
strengthening  his  entrenchments,  Early  so  far 
changed  his  plan  as  to  part  company  with  Wharton 
at  Strasburg,  and  then,  bearing  off  to  the  right,  to 
conduct  Kershaw  to  the  banks  of  Cedar  Creek  at  the 


0  1  2 


SCALE      ••       10,000    FEET. 


.s?'-3$» 
'."&& 


I      ^^U^"^H 


y 


CEDAR    CREEK 


FROM   THE  OFFICIAL 


&     2aS 
H-S<    o 

S5«  I 


!l 


U^-^"  "^-'™ B--&---W 


u 


fx\4Vt  *& 

I.OEZ    v  nD>    >>     U      .,    .,?--c?/ 


MAP  OF  1873. 


OCTOBER  19,  1864. 


CEDAR  CREEK.  417 

ford  that  now  bears  the  name  of  Roberts.  This  is 
about  twelve  hundred  yards  above  the  mouth  of  the 
creek  ;  and  there,  at  half-past  three  in  the  morning, 
in  the  long  shadows  of  the  full  moon,1  Early  stood 
with  Kershaw  at  his  back  and  the  sleeping  ranks  of 
Thoburn  directly  in  his  front,  and  waited  only  for 
the  appointed  hour.  At  half-past  four,  Early  again 
set  Kershaw  in  motion.  The  crossing  of  Cedar 
Creek  was  unobserved  and  unopposed.  Once  on 
the  north  bank,  Kershaw  deployed  to  the  right  and 
left,  and  stood  to  arms  listening  for  Gordon. 

Wharton,  who  had  already  formed  under  cover  of 
the  trees,  on  the  edge  of  Hupp's  Hill,  crept  down  the 
slope  to  the  front  of  the  wood,  and  there,  likewise 
in  shadow,  hardly  a  thousand  feet  from  the  bridge 
and  the  middle  ford,  he  too  watched  for  the  signal. 

To  crown  all,  as  the  dawn  drew  near  a  light  fog 
descended  upon  the  river  bottom  and  covered  all 
objects  as  with  a  veil. 

Almost  from  the  beginning  it  had  been  the  custom 
of  the  Nineteenth  Army  Corps,  at  all  times  when  in 
the  presence  of  the  enemy,  to  stand  to  arms  at  day 
break.  Moreover  as  Molineux  was  to  go  out  on  a 
reconnoissance  by  half-past  five,  his  men  had  break 
fasted  and  were  lying  on  their  arms  waiting  for  the 
order  to  march.  Birge  and  Macauley  were  to  be 
ready  to  follow  in  support  after  a  proper  interval, 
and  Shunk  was  to  cover  the  front  of  all  three  during 
their  absence.  McMillan  had  also  been  notified  to 
support  the  movement  of  Grover's  brigades.  Emory 
himself  was  up  and  dressed,  the  horses  of  his  staff 

1  Being  actually  three  days  past  the  full,  the  moon  rose  October  18-19,  1864 
at  8.5  P.M.,  southed  at  2.25  A.M.,  and  set  at  8.45  A.M..  Daylight  on  the  igth 
was  at  5.40  A.M.  ;  the  sun  rose  at  6.14,  set  at  5.16  ;  twilight  ended  5.50  P.M. 


41 8  THE  NINE  TEE  NTH  A  RM  Y  CORPS. 

were  saddled,  and  his  own  horses  were  being"  saddled, 
when  from  the  left  a  startling  sound  broke  the  still 
ness  of  the  morning  air. 

This  was  the  roar  of  the  one  tremendous  volley  by 
which  Kershaw  made  known  his  presence  before  the 
sleeping  camp  of  Thoburn.  In  an  instant,  before  a 
single  shot  could  be  fired  in  return,  before  the  musk 
ets  could  be  taken  from  the  stacks,  before  the  can 
noneers  could  reach  their  pieces,  Kershaw's  men,  with 
loud  and  continuous  yells,  swarmed  over  the  parapet 
in  Thoburn's  front,  seized  the  guns,  and  sent  his  half- 
clad  soldiers  flying  to  the  rear.  Thus  Kershaw,  who 
a  moment  before  had  been  without  artillery,  suddenly 
found  himself  in  possession  of  the  seven  guns  that 
had  been  planted  to  secure  Thoburn's  ground.  Then 
upon  Emory  and  upon  Hayes,  as  well  as  against  the 
flying  fugitives,  he  turned  the  cannon  thus  snatched 
from  their  own  comrades. 

At  the  first  sound  Molineux  moved  his  men  back 
into  the  rifle-pits  they  had  left  an  hour  before,  and 
Emory,  ordering  his  corps  to  stand  to  arms,  rode  at 
once  to  the  left  of  his  line  at  the  valley  road  to  find 
out  the  meaning  of  this  strange  outbreak.  Knowing 
that  Molineux  was  near  and  ready,  Emory  drew  from 
him  two  regiments,  the  22d  Iowa  and  the  3d  Massa 
chusetts,  to  support  the  artillery  planted  on  the  left 
to  command  the  bridge.  Hardly  had  this  been  done 
when  the  shells  began  to  fall  among  the  guns  and  to 
enfilade  the  lines  of  the  infantry.  What  could  this 
mean  but  the  thing  that  had  actually  happened  to 
Thoburn  ?  Grover  joined  Emory,  Crook  came  from 
Belle  Grove,  and  Wright  from  his  camp  beyond 
Meadow  Brook.  The  fugitives  from  Thoburn's 
unfortunate  division  went  streaming  by. 


CEDAR  CREEK.  419 

Then  suddenly  from  the  left  and  rear  came  the 
startling  rattle  of  the  rifles  that  told  of  Gordon's 
attack  on  the  exposed  flank  of  Hayes  and  Kitching. 
While  all  eyes  were  directed  toward  Kershaw,  Gor 
don,  still  further  favored  by  the  fog,  the  outcry,  and 
the  noise  of  the  cannonade,  was  not  perceived  by  the 
troops  of  Hayes  and  Kitching  until  the  instant  when 
his  solid  lines  of  battle,  unheralded  by  a  single  skir 
misher  of  his  own,  and  unannounced  by  those  set  to 
watch  against  him,  fell  upon  the  ranks  of  Crook.  He 
tried  in  vain  to  form  on  the  road.  Startled  from 
their  sleep  by  the  surprise  of  their  comrades  on  their 
right,  and  naturally  shaken  by  the  disordered  rush 
of  the  fugitives  through  their  ranks,  his  men,  old 
soldiers  and  good  soldiers  as  they  were,  gave  way  at 
the  first  onset,  before  the  fire  of  Gordon  had  become 
heavy  and  almost  without  stopping  to  return  it. 

Then  swiftly  Gordon  and  Kershaw  moved  together 
against  the  uncovered  left  and  rear  of  Emory,  while 
at  the  same  time  Early,  who  after  seeing  Kershaw 
launched,  had  ridden  back  for  Wharton  and  the 
artillery,  was  bringing  them  into  position  for  a  front 
attack.  Besides  the  sounds  that  had  aroused  Emory 
and  Crook,  Wright,  from  his  more  remote  position, 
had  listened  to  the  rattle  of  Rosser's  carbines,1  but 
after  a  moment  of  natural  doubt  had  perceived  that 
the  true  attack  was  on  the  left,  and  accordingly  he 
had  ordered  Ricketts  to  advance  with  Getty  and 
Keifer  to  the  valley  road  toward  the  sound  of  the 
battle.  If  this  was  to  be  of  the  least  advantage,  the 
valley  road  must  be  somehow  held  by  somebody 
until  Ricketts  should  come.  Emory  sent  Thomas 
across  the  road  into  the  ravine  and  the  wood  beyond, 

1  This  was  probably  the  first  sound  heard  that  morning. 


420  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

and  bade  him  stand  fast  at  all  hazards.  But  the 
time  was  too  short.  Thomas,  after  a  desperate 
resistance,  was  forced  back  by  the  overwhelming 
masses  of  Kershaw,  yet  not  until  this  tried  brigade 
had  left  a  third  of  its  number  on  the  ground  to  attest 
its  valor.  About  the  colors  of  the  8th  Vermont  the 
fight  was  furious.  Again  and  again  the  colors  went 
down  ;  three  bearers  were  slain  ;  before  the  sun  rose 
two  men  out  of  three  had  fallen,  that  the  precious 
emblems  might  be  saved.1  Thus  were  many  priceless 
minutes  won.  Then,  as  there  was  no  longer  anything 
to  hinder  the  advance  of  Kershaw  on  the  left,  and 
of  Gordon  on  the  rear,  while  Wharton  and  the  forty 
guns  of  Early's  artillery  were  beginning  their  work 
in  front,  from  the  left  toward  the  right,  successively 
the  brigades  of  the  Nineteenth  Corps  began  to  give 
way  ;  yet  as  they  drifted  toward  the  right  and  rear, 
in  that  stress  the  men  held  well  to  their  colors,  and 
although  there  may  and  must  have  been  many  that 
fell  out,  not  a  brigade  or  a  regiment  lost  its  organization 
for  a  moment. 

When  the  pressure  reached  Molineux  and  Davis 
on  the  reverse  side  of  the  entrenchments,  both  brigades 
began  moving  off,  under  Emory's  orders,  by  the  right 
flank  to  take  position  near  Belle  Grove  on  the  right  of 
Ricketts's  division  of  the  Sixth  Corps,  which  had  come 
up  and  was  trying  to  extend  its  line  diagonally  to 
reach  the  valley  road.  To  cover  this  position  and 
to  hold  off  the  onward  rush  of  Gordon,  Emory  had 
already  posted  the  i  i4th  and  the  i53d  New  York  on 

1  According  to  the  regimental  history  (p.  218)  over  100  were  lost  out  of  159 
engaged  ;  of  16  officers  13  were  killed  or  wounded.  The  monument  erected 
September  21,  1885,  says  no  were  killed  and  wounded  out  of  164  engaged. 
The  revised  official  figures  are  17  killed,  66  wounded — together  83  (including 
12  officers)  ;  besides  these  there  were  23  missing  ;  in  all,  106. 


CEDAR  CREEK.  421 

the  commanding  knoll  five  hundred  yards  to  the 
southward  overlooking  the  road.  When  driven  off 
these  regiments  rejoined  their  brigade  before  Belle 
Grove.  Thither  also  came  the  detached  regiments 
of  Molineux,  and  there  Neafie  joined  them  with  the 
3d  brigade,  after  a  strong  stand  at  their  breast 
works,  wherein  Macauley  fell  severely  wounded,  and 
the  1 56th  and  I76th  had  hard  fighting  hand-to-hand 
to  keep  their  colors,  at  the  cost  of  the  staves.  Birge 
retired  along  the  line  of  works  to  the  open  ground 
beyond  Meadow  Brook,  where  Shunk  joined  him. 

In  quitting  their  posts  at  the  breastworks  Haley, 
having  lost  forty-nine  horses  killed  in  harness,  had  to 
abandon  three  guns  of  his  ist  Maine  battery,  and 
Taft  lost  three  pieces  of  his  5th  New  York  battery 
at  the  difficult  crossing  of  Meadow  Brook.  There, 
too,  from  the  same  cause,  three  guns  of  the  i7th  In 
diana  and  two  of  the  Rhode  Island  battery  were 
abandoned.  The  losses  of  the  infantry  were  to  be 
counted  in  thousands.  Grover  was  slightly  wounded  ; 
Macauley,  as  has  been  said,  severely.  Emory  had 
lost  both  his  horses,  and  was  for  a  time  commanding 
the  corps  afoot.  Birge  rode  a  mule.  Thus  the 
Nineteenth  Corps  lost  eleven  guns.  Crook  had 
already  lost  seven,  and  the  Sixth  Corps  was  presently 
to  lose  six. 

With  Gordon  on  his  flank  and  rear,  every  moment 
drawing  nearer  to  the  mastery  of  the  valley  road, 
Wright  had  to  think,  and  to  think  quickly,  of  the 
safety  and  the  success  of  the  army  he  commanded. 
For  it  there  was  no  longer  a  position  south  of 
Middletown.  What  security  was  there  that  Custer 
and  Powell  would  be  able  all  day  long  to  hold  off,  as 
in  the  event  they  did,  the  flank  and  rear  attacks  of 


422  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

Rosser  and  of  Lomax  ?  What  if  the  Longstreet 
message  were  true  and  yet  a  third  surprise  in  store  ? 
Time,  time  was  needed,  whether  to  bring  up  the 
troops  or  to  change  front,  to  march  to  the  rear  past  the 
faces  of  the  advancing  enemy,  to  hold  him  in  check, 
and  to  re-form.  Whatever  was  to  be  done  was  to  be 
done  quickly  ;  and  Wright,  throwing  prudence  into 
the  balance,  made  up  his  mind  for  a  retreat  to  a  fresh 
position,  where  his  line  of  communications  would  be 
preserved  and  its  flanks  protected.  Middletown  and 
the  cavalry  camp  pointed  out  the  ground.  Accord 
ingly  he  gave  the  word  to  Getty,  Ricketts  being 
wounded,  to  retire  on  Middletown,  guiding  on  the 
valley  road,  and  to  Emory  to  form  on  Getty's  right — 
that  is,  on  the  left  of  the  Sixth  Corps  in  retreat.  The 
battle  had  been  raging  for  nearly  an  hour  when  Wright 
gave  this  order  to  abandon  Belle  Grove.  The  retreat 
threw  upon  Getty's  division,  now  under  Grant,  the 
severe  task  of  covering  the  exposed  right  flank  of 
the  army  in  retreat,  while  the  left  was  gradually 
swinging  into  the  direction  of  the  new  line.  Getty, 
having  handsomely  performed  this  service,  crossed 
Meadow  Brook  abreast  with  Middletown  and  took 
position  on  the  high  and  partly  wooded  ground  that 
rises  beyond  the  brook  to  the  west  of  the  village  and 
on  a  line  with  Merritt's  camp.  Here,  on  the  southern 
edge  of  the  village  cemetery  and  on  the  crest  behind 
it,  Getty  planted  his  artillery,  posted  Grant  to  hold 
the  immediate  front,  and  somewhat  in  his  rear,  under 
the  trees,  following  the  contour  of  the  hill  as  it  rises 
toward  the  west,  he  placed  Wheaton  and  Keifer. 

To  reach  his  position  on  the  left  of  Getty  in  re 
treat,  Emory  had  to  gain  ground  to  the  westward,  to 
descend  the  hill  from  Belle  Grove,  to  cross  Meadow 


CEDAR  CREEK.  423 

Brook,  and  climbing  the  opposite  slope  to  face  about 
and  re-form  his  line  in  good  order  on  the  crest  of  Red 
Hill.  Here,  before  Dr.  Shipley's  house,  nearly  across 
the  ground  where  the  men  of  Wheaton  and  of 
Getty  had  slept  the  night  before,  for  the  best  part  of 
an  hour  Emory  stood  at  bay.  Kershaw  followed 
over  the  Belle  Grove  Hill,  across  Meadow  Brook,  up 
the  slope  of  Red  Hill,  and  formed  line  facing  north  ; 
but  then,  seeing  the  fighting  part  of  Emory's  infantry 
before  him  and  the  formidable  array  of  Merritt's 
cavalry  in  close  support,  he  refrained  from  renewing 
the  attack  until  Early  could  send  Gordon  to  his  aid. 
Thus  the  bold  stand  at  Red  Hill  gave  the  time  the 
situation  craved,  and  while  Kershaw  waited,  Emory, 
following  his  orders  from  Wright,  crossed  over  to  the 
cemetery1  and  placed  himself  on  the  west  of  Getty. 
Thomas  rejoined  McMillan.  Torbert  meanwhile  had 
moved  over  with  Merritt  to  the  left  flank.  Thus 
around  the  cemetery,  about  half-past  seven,  the  un 
shaken  strength  of  the  Army  of  the  Shenandoah 
was  gathered,  every  eye  looking  once  more  toward 
the  south. 

While  awaiting  the  general  attack  for  which  Early 
was  plainly  preparing,  Wright  deployed  his  lines, 
according  to  the  ground,  from  the  south  wall  of  the 
cemetery  overlooking  Meadow  Brook  on  the  left,  in  a 
rough  echelon  of  divisions  to  Marsh  Brook  on  the 
right,  in  order  of  Grant,  Keifer,  Wheaton,  Grover, 
McMillan.  Between  the  arms  of  Marsh  Brook,  in 
front  and  behind  the  Old  Forge  road,  on  open  ground 
nearly  as  high  as  Getty's,  Emory  formed  his  corps  in 

1  The  official  map,  accurate  as  it  is  in  general,  errs  in  some  important  particu 
lars  ;  for  one,  in  representing  Emory  as  retreating  in  a  direct  line  toward  the 
north  from  Red  Hill  to  the  Old  Forge  line.  This  would  actually  have  carried 
his  force  through  the  ranks  of  the  cavalry. 


424  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

echelon  of  brigades.  Here,  not  doubting  that  the 
decisive  combat  of  the  day  was  to  be  fought,  Emory 
began  fortifying  his  front  with  the  help  of  loose  rails 
and  stones. 

To  protect  himself  against  the  menacing  move 
ment  of  the  cavalry  on  his  right  in  front  of  Middle- 
town,  Early  posted  Ramseur  with  two  batteries  di 
rectly  across  the  valley  road,  and  when  he  saw  Getty's 
stand  near  the  cemetery,  he  brought  Wharton  directly 
down  the  road  and  sent  him  to  the  attack,  but  this 
Getty  easily  threw  off  and  drove  back  Wharton  in 
such  confusion  that  before  renewing  the  attempt 
Early  waited  to  complete  a  new  line  of  battle  almost 
perpendicular  to  his  first  and  therefore  to  the  road. 
From  the  right  at  Middletown  to  the  left  at  Red 
Hill  the  new  line  was  formed  by  Pegram,  Ramseur, 
Kershaw,  and  Gordon,  with  Wharton  behind  Pegram. 
On  the  right  of  this  line  also  Early  massed  the  forty 
guns  of  his  artillery  augmented  by  some  of  the  twen 
ty-four  pieces  taken  from  the  Union  army. 

And  now  the  increasing  heat  of  the  sun  dissolved 
the  fog,  and  revealed  to  the  combatants  the  true  sit 
uation  of  affairs.  To  Early  the  position  of  the  Union 
army,  its  salient,  as  it  were,  lying  directly  before  him 
where  he  stood,  seemed  so  strong  that  he  hesitated 
to  hazard  another  attack  until  the  concentrated  fire 
of  his  artillery  should  have  produced  an  impression  ; 
while  to  Wright,  not  only  was  the  menace  of  Early's 
artillery  very  obvious,  but  the  weakness  of  his  own 
left  flank,  broken  by  Meadow  Brook  and  adhering 
lightly  to  the  valley  road,  was  still  present. 

The  force  of  Early's  first  onset  was  spent ;  his  one 
chance  of  seizing  and  holding  the  valley  road  in  the 


CEDAR  CREEK.  425 

rear  of  the  Union  army  had  slipped  away,  while  his 
cavalry  had  utterly  failed  to  accomplish  any  part  of 
the  task  confided  to  it.  Time  and  strength  had  both 
been  lost  to  the  Confederates  by  the  uncontrollable 
plunder  of  the  camps  and  the  sutlers'  stores. 

The  Old  Forge  road  is  but  a  country  lane  that 
crosses  the  field  from  the  north  end  of  Middletown. 
It  afforded  no  position,  its  chief  value  being  as  uniting 
the  wings  of  the  army,  and  Wright's  object  in  taking 
up  this  line  was  simply  to  gain  time  to  develop  a 
better  fighting  line  still  farther  to  the  rear.  Now, 
seeing  that  Getty  had  accomplished  his  purpose  in 
holding  on  at  the  cemetery,  Wright  ordered  him 
to  move  slowly,  in  line  of  battle,  toward  the  north, 
guiding  on  the  valley  road,  with  Merritt's  cavalry  be 
yond  it  following  and  covering  the  operation,  while 
Emory,  taking  up  the  movement  in  his  turn,  was  to 
look  to  Wheaton  for  his  guide.  Wright's  order 
found  Emory's  men  in  the  act  of  completing  their 
hasty  defences,  while  Emory  was  moving  about 
among  them  strongly  declaring  his  purpose  not  to 
go  back  another  inch. 

Getty  began  by  withdrawing  Grant,  and  when 
Grant  had  passed  for  some  distance  beyond  the  left 
of  Keifer,  his  right  in  retreat,  Keifer  followed,  while 
on  his  left,  in  retreat,  Wheaton,  and  on  Wheaton's 
left  Emory  marched,  as  nearly  as  may  be,  shoulder  to 
shoulder  in  a  solid  line.  Thus  Keifer  formed  the 
centre  of  the  retreating  line  of  battle,  with  Ball  on 
his  right  and  Emerson  on  his  left.  Having  to  pass 
over  rough  ground  and  among  trees,  the  line  was 
broken  to  the  reversed  front  by  the  right  of  regi 
ments,  the  head  of  each  guiding  on  its  right-hand 


426  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

neighbor.  Thus  it  happened l  that  in  passing  through 
a  thick  wood,  Keifer's  division  was  split  in  two,  his 
brigades  losing  sight  of  one  another,  so  that  on 
coming  once  more  into  the  open  field,  Ball  found 
himself  alone  with  no  other  troops  in  sight  on  either 
hand ;  but  soon  hearing  the  sound  of  Getty's  guns 
over  the  right  shoulder,  he  faced  about  and  marched 
back  to  a  stone  wall  upon  a  lane,  where  he  found 
Getty  already  in  position.  Emerson,  however,  moving 
more  quickly  through  the  wood,  because  the  ground 
was  easier,  continued  his  march  toward  the  north, 
continually  bearing  to  the  right  as  he  went,  in  order 
to  regain  the  lost  touch  with  Ball,  while  on  the  left 
Wheaton  and  Emory,  knowing  nothing  of  the  break, 
naturally  and  gradually  conformed  to  the  movement 
of  Emerson.  Finally,  when  the  left  of  the  line  once 
more  entered  the  woods,  Emerson,  gradually  changing 
the  direction  toward  the  right,  drifted  Wheaton  away 
from  Emory,  and  when  this  was  perceived  by  the 
commanders,  each  began  to  look  for  his  neighbor. 
It  is  also  probable  that  when  the  separation  took 
place  the  interval  was  gradually  widened  by  Emory's 
movement  with  his  right  resting  on  a  road  that, 
while  apparently  following  the  true  line  of  direction, 
really  carried  him  every  moment  a  little  farther 
toward  the  left.  However  that  may  be,  when  almost 
at  the  same  instant  Wheaton  and  Emory  halted  and 
faced  about,  they  found  themselves  about  eight  hun 
dred  yards  apart,  a  thousand  yards  behind  the 
line  that  Getty  had  just  taken  up,  on  the  westward 

1  "  The  Battle  of  Cedar  Creek,"  by  Col.  Moses  M.  Granger,  I22d  Ohio, 
printed  in  the  valuable  collection  of  "  Sketches  of  War  History,"  published  by 
the  Ohio  Commandery  of  the  Loyal  Legion,  vol.  iii.,  pp.  122-125.  The 
author  is  likewise  indebted  to  General  Keifer  for  the  opportunity  to  use  in  the 
manuscript  his  paper  on  Cedar  Creek,  prepared  for  the  same  series. 


CEDAR  CREEK.  427 

prolongation  of  which  Keifer  had  joined  him  with 
the  brigade  of  Ball. 

The  affair  had  now  lasted  five  hours  ;  the  retreat 
was  at  an  end  ;  a  tactical  accident  had  carried  it  half 
a  mile  farther  than  was  intended  ;  as  it  was,  from  the 
extreme  front  of  Emory  at  daybreak  to  his  extreme 
rear  at  eleven  o'clock,  the  measured  distance  was  but 
four  miles.  Every  step  of  the  way  had  been  tra 
versed  under  orders — under  orders  that  had  carried 
the  Nineteenth  Corps  three  times  across  the  field 
of  battle,  so  that  its  march,  from  Belle  Grove  to 
the  Old  Forge  road,  might  be  represented  by  the 
letter  N. 

When  Early  saw  the  Union  line  retreating,  he 
moved  forward  to  the  cross-road  beyond  the  ceme 
tery,  and  posted  his  troops  behind  the  stone  walls. 
Wharton  extended  the  line  on  the  east  side  of  the 
turnpike,  with  three  batteries  massed  between  him 
and  the  road.  Pegram  covered  the  turnpike,  his 
left  resting  on  Meadow  Brook,  and  beyond  it  Ram- 
seur,  Kershaw,  and  Gordon  carried  the  line  to  the 
east  bank  of  Middle  Marsh  Brook.  Early  had  now 
two  courses  open  to  him  :  one  was  to  extricate  his 
army  from  its  position,  with  its  enemy  directly  in 
front  and  Cedar  Creek  in  rear,  before  the  Union 
commander  could  take  the  initiative  ;  the  other  was 
to  attack  vigorously  with  all  his  force  before  the 
Union  infantry  should  be  able  to  complete  the  new 
line  of  battle  now  plainly  in  the  act  of  formation. 
In  either  case,  although  he  could  easily  see  that  on 
both  flanks  the  line  of  his  infantry  far  overlapped 
that  of  his  antagonist,  Early  must  have  perceived 
that  he  had  to  reckon  with  the  whole  mass  of  the 
Union  cavalry,  unshaken  and  as  yet  untouched. 


428  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

Moreover,  his  men  had  already  done  a  long  and  hard 
day's  work  after  a  short  night. 

Depleted  as  were  the  ranks  of  the  Union  infantry 
by  the  heavy  battle  losses  of  the  early  morning,  and 
the  still  heavier  losses  by  the  misconduct  of  the 
stragglers  of  all  the  corps  except  the  cavalry,  it  was 
not  to  be  doubted  that  the  men  who  stood  by  the 
colors  on  the  Old  Forge  road  meant  to  abide  to  the 
end.  As  all  old  soldiers  know,  the  fighting  line, 
granting  that  enough  remain  to  make  a  fighting  line, 
is  never  so  strong  as  at  the  moment  after  the  first 
shock  of  battle  has  shaken  out  the  men  that  always 
straggle  on  the  march  and  skulk  on  the  field.  When, 
therefore,  the  first  compact  line  faced  about,  it  was 
with  determination  and  with  hope ;  yet  scarcely  had 
the  fires  of  resolution  been  relit  and  begun  to  kindle 
to  a  glow  than  they  were  suddenly  extinguished  and 
all  was  plunged  in  gloom  by  the  unlooked-for  order 
to  retreat.  Upon  the  whole  army  a  lethargy  fell, 
and  though  every  man  expected  and  stood  ready  to 
do  his  duty,  it  was  with  a  certain  listlessness  amount 
ing  almost  to  indifference  that  he  waited  for  what 
was  to  come  next.  In  the  sensations  of  most, 
hunger  was  perhaps  uppermost,  and  while  some 
munched  the  bread  and  meat  from  their  haversacks 
and  others  waited  to  make  coffee,  many  threw 
themselves  upon  the  ground  where  they  stood  and 
fell  asleep. 

Far  down  the  road  from  among  the  crowd  of 
fugitives,  where  no  man  on  that  field  cared  to  look, 
came  a  murmur  like  the  breaking  of  the  surf  on  a  far- 
off  shore.  Nearer  it  drew,  grew  louder,  and  swelled 
to  a  tumult.  Cheers  !  The  cheers  of  the  stragglers. 
As  the  men  instinctively  turned  toward  the  sound, 


CEDAR  CREEK.  429 

they  were  seized  with  amazement  to  see  the  tide  of 
stragglers  setting  strongly  toward  the  south.  Then 
out  from  among  them,  into  the  field  by  the  roadside, 
cantered  a  little  man  on  a  black  horse,  and  from  the 
ranks  of  his  own  cavalry  arose  a  cry  of  "  Sheridan  ! " 
Through  all  the  ranks  the  message  flashed,  and,  as  if 
it  had  been  charged  by  the  electric  spark,  set  every 
man  on  his  feet  and  made  his  heart  once  more  beat 
high  within  him. 

This  was  Wednesday,  and  Sheridan,  before  finally 
setting  out  for  Washington,  had  told  Wright  to  look 
for  him  on  Tuesday.  Rapidly  despatching,  as  has 
been  seen,  his  business  at  the  War  Office,  Sheridan 
left  Washington  by  the  special  train  he  had  asked  for 
at  noon  on  the  i  7th,  accompanied  by  the  engineers 
charged  with  the  duty  of  selecting  the  position  that 
Halleck  wished  to  fortify.  They  slept  that  night  at 
Martinsburg,  and  rode  the  next  day,  the  i8th  of 
October,  to  Winchester.  There  Sheridan  learned 
that  all  was  well  with  his  army  and  was  also  told  of 
the  reconnoissances  projected  for  the  next  morning. 
He  determined  to  remain  at  Winchester  in  order 
to  go  over  the  ground  the  next  morning  with  the 
engineers.  Aroused  about  six  o'clock  by  the  report 
of  heavy  firing,  he  ascribed  it  to  the  reconnoitring 
column,  and  thought  but  little  of  it  until,  between 
half-past  eight  and  nine,  having  finished  his  break 
fast,  he  became  uneasy  at  the  continued  sound  of  the 
cannon.  Then  mounting  "  Rienzi,"  accompanied  by 
his  staff  and  followed  by  his  escort,  he  rode  out  to 
join  his  army  where  he  had  left  it,  fourteen  miles  away, 
on  the  banks  of  Cedar  Creek.  The  fight  of  the 
morning  had  come  to  an  end  an  hour  ago.  Riding 
at  an  easy  trot  half  a  mile  out  on  the  hill  beyond 


430  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

Abraham's  Creek,1  he  was  shocked  to  see  the  tattered 
and  dishevelled  head  of  the  column  of  stragglers, 
every  man  making  the  best  of  his  way  toward  the 
Potomac,  without  his  arms,  his  equipments,  or  his 
knapsack,  carrying,  in  short,  nothing  but  what  he  wore. 
Most  of  these  must  have  been  shaken  out  of  the 
ranks  when  Kershaw  surprised  the  camp  of  Thoburn. 
If  this  be  so,  they  had  travelled  more  than  thirteen 
miles  in  little  more  than  three  hours. 

This  appalling  sight  brought  to  Sheridan's  mind 
the  Longstreet  message,  "  Be  ready  when  I  join  you, 
and  we  will  crush  Sheridan."  Should  he  stop  his 
routed  army  at  Winchester  and  fight  there  ?  No, 
he  must  go  to  his  men,  restore  their  broken  ranks,  or 
share  their  fate.  How  he  rode  on  has  been  made 
famous  in  song  and  story,  yet  never  so  well  told  as 
in  the  modest  narrative,  stamped  in  every  line  with 
the  impress  of  the  soldier's  truthful  frankness,  than  in 
the  entertaining  volumes  that  were  the  last  work  of 
the  great  leader's  life.2 

Once  arrived  on  the  field,  about  half-past  ten  or  per 
haps  eleven  o'clock,  Sheridan  lost  no  time  in  assuming 
personal  command  of  the  army.  Establishing  his 
headquarters  on  the  hill  behind  Getty,  he  proceeded 
to  complete  the  dispositions  he  found  already  in 
progress.  He  saw  at  a  glance  that  the  line  on  which 
Wright  had  placed  Getty  was  well  chosen  ;  and 
though  knowing  nothing  of  the  break  that  had  taken 
place  during  the  accidental  loss  of  direction  by  the  left 
wing  of  Getty's  corps,  and  so  wrongly  inferring  from 
what  he  saw  that  Getty  was  a  mere  rear-guard,  he 

1  Called  Mill  Creek  in  Sheridan's  report  and  "  Memoirs."     There  is  a  mill 
on  the  north  bank. 

2  "  Personal  Memoirs  of  P.  H.  Sheridan,"  vol.  ii.,  pp.  75-83.     The  distance 
from  Winchester  to  Getty's  position  is  ten  and  three  quarter  miles. 


CEDAR  CREEK.  431 

yet  adopted  the  position  for  his  fighting  line,  sent 
his  staff  officers  with  orders  for  the  rest  of  the  troops 
to  form  on  that  line,  and  thus  actually  completed  the 
arrangements  begun  by  Wright.  It  sufficed  that 
Emerson,  Wheaton,  and  Emory  should  face  about, 
as  they  were  already  about  to  do,  and  should  form 
on  the  prolongation  of  Getty's  line.  This  they  did 
promptly  and  in  perfect  order.  Wright  resumed  the 
command  of  the  Sixth  Corps  and  Getty  of  his  own  divi 
sion.  Then  feeling  his  left  quite  strong  enough  under 
Merritt's  care,  Sheridan  sent  Custer,  for  whom  he  had 
other  designs,  back  to  the  right  flank. 

It  was  past  noon  before  all  this  was  accomplished. 
Then  Sheridan,  content  with  the  position  and  appear 
ance  of  his  own  army,  and  perceiving  that  Early  was 
getting  ready  to  attack  him,  acted  on  the  suggestion 
of  Major  George  Forsyth,  his  aide-de-camp,  and  rode 
the  length  of  the  line  of  battle  in  order  to  show  him 
self  to  his  men.  A  tumult  of  cheers  greeted  him  and 
followed  him  as,  hat  in  hand,  he  passed  in  front  of 
regiment  after  regiment,  speaking  a  few  words  of 
encouragement  to  each.  Sheridan  possessed  in  a 
degree  unequalled  the  power  of  raising  in  the  hearts 
of  his  soldiers  the  sort  of  enthusiasm  that,  transmu 
ting  itself  into  action,  causes  men  to  attempt  impos 
sibilities,  and  to  disregard  and  overcome  obstacles. 
Almost  from  the  moment  of  entering  the  valley  he 
had  gained  the  confidence  of  the  infantry,  to  whom  he 
had  been  a  stranger.  By  the  cavalry  he  had  long 
been  idolized.  The  feeling  of  an  army  for  its  gen 
eral  is  a  thing  not  to  be  reasoned  with  or  explained 
away ;  once  aroused,  it  belongs  to  him  as  exclusively 
as  the  expression  of  his  face,  the  manner  of  his  gait, 
or  the  form  of  his  signature,  and  is  not  to  be  trans- 


432  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

ferred  to  his  successor  or  delegated  even  to  the  ablest 
of  his  lieutenants,  whatever  the  skill,  the  merit,  or 
the  reputation  of  either.  The  mere  presence  of 
Sheridan  in  the  ranks  of  the  Army  of  the  Shenan- 
doah  that  day  brought  with  it  the  assurance  of 
victory. 

Emory  at  first  formed  his  corps  in  two  lines,  the 
First  division  under  Dwight,  whom  Sheridan  had 
released  from  arrest,  on  the  right,  and  Grover  on 
the  left ;  but  soon  the  whole  corps  was  deployed 
in  one  line  in  the  order  from  right  to  left  by  bri 
gades  of  McMillan,  Davis,  Birge,  Molineux,  Neafie, 
Shunk. 

When  the  line  of  the  Old  Forge  road  was  aban 
doned  by  Wright,  Early  moved  forward  and  occupied 
it.  Between  one  and  two  o'clock  he  advanced  Gor 
don  and  Kershaw  to  attack  Wheaton  and  Emory. 
Seeing  that  the  weight  of  the  attack  was  about  to 
fall  on  the  right,  Sheridan  sent  Wheaton  to  the  sup 
port  of  Emory.  However,  Gordon's  onset  proved 
so  light  that  no  assistance  was  needed,  for,  after 
three  or  four  volleys  had  been  exchanged,  the  attack 
was  easily  and  completely  thrown  off.  Kershaw's 
movement  was  even  more  feeble. 

Several  causes  now  delayed  the  counter  attack  of 
Sheridan.  Crook  was  endeavoring  to  re-form  the 
stragglers  on  his  colors  behind  Merritt.  Apprehen 
sion  of  the  coming  of  Longstreet  was  only  dissipated 
by  the  information  gained  from  prisoners  during  the 
afternoon,  and  finally  arose  a  false  rumor  of  the 
appearance  of  a  column  of  Confederate  cavalry  in 
the  rear  toward  Winchester  ;  and  this  seemed  plausi 
ble  enough  until  at  last  word  came  from  Powell  that 
he  was  still  holding  off  Lomax.  Then  Sheridan 


CEDAR  CREEK.  433 

gave  the  signal  for  the  whole  line  to  go  forward 
against  the  enemy,  beginning  with  Getty  on  the 
left,  as  a  pivot,  while  the  whole  right  was  to  sweep 
onward,  and,  driving  the  enemy  before  it,  to  swing 
toward  the  valley  road  near  the  camps  of  the 
morning. 

About  four  Getty  started,  and  the  movement 
being  taken  up  in  succession  toward  the  right,  in 
a  few  minutes  the  whole  line  was  advancing  steadily. 
From  that  moment  to  the  end  the  men  hardly 
stopped  an  instant  for  anything.  The  resistance 
of  the  Confederates,  though  at  first  steady,  and  here 
and  there  even  spirited,  was  of  short  duration.  For 
a  few  moments,  indeed,  the  attack  seemed  to  hang 
on  the  extreme  right  as  McMillan,  rushing  on 
even  more  rapidly  than  the  order  of  the  combat 
demanded,  found  himself  suddenly  enveloped  by  the 
right  wheel  of  the  brigade  of  Evans,  forming  the 
extreme  left  of  the  division  of  Gordon  and  of  the 
Confederate  army.  But  while  McMillan  was  thus 
attacked  and  his  leading  troops  were  called  to  meet 
the  danger,  this,  as  suddenly  as  it  had  come,  was 
swept  away  by  the  swift  onset  of  Davis  directly 
upon  the  front  and  flank  of  Evans.  To  do  this 
Davis  had  not  only  to  act  instantly,  but  also  to 
change  front  under  a  double  fire ;  yet  he  and  his 
brigade  were  equal  to  the  emergency,  and  McMillan 
joining  in,  together  they  not  only  threw  off  the 
attack  of  Evans,  but  bursting  through  the  re-entrant 
angle  of  Gordon's  line,  quickly  swept  Evans  off  the 
field.  Knowing  this  to  be  the  critical  point  of  his 
line,  because  the  wheeling  flank,  Sheridan  was  there. 
"  Stay  where  you  are,"  was  his  order,  "  till  you  see 
my  boy  Custer  over  there." 


434  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

Then  upon  the  high  ground  appeared  Custer  at 
the  head  of  his  bold  troopers,  making  ready  to 
swoop  down  upon  the  broken  wing  of  Gordon. 
Almost  at  the  same  instant,  the  whole  right  of  the 
line  rushed  to  the  charge,  and  while  Custer  rode 
down  Gordon's  left  flank,  Dwight,  with  McMillan 
and  Davis,  began  rolling  up  the  whole  Confederate 
line.  Meanwhile,  on  the  left  centre  the  Union  attack 
likewise  hung  for  a  moment,  where  Molineux,  on  the 
southerly  slope  of  a  wooded  hollow,  saw  himself  con 
fronted  by  Kershaw  on  the  opposite  crest,  only  to  be 
reached  by  climbing  the  steep  bare  side  of  the  "  dirt 
hill."  But  the  keen  eye  of  Molineux  easily  saw  through 
the  difficulties  of  the  ground,  and  when  he  was  ready 
his  men  and  Dirge's,  rising  up  and  together  charging 
boldly  out  of  the  hollow,  up  the  hill,  across  the  open 
ground,  and  over  the  stone  wall,  in  the  face  of  a 
fierce  fire,  settled  the  overthrow  of  Kershaw  and 
sent  a  panic  running  down  the  line  of  Ramseur. 
Wright  attacking  with  equal  vigor,  soon  the  disorder 
spread  through  every  part  of  Early's  force,  and  in 
rout  and  ruin  the  exultant  victors  of  the  morning 
were  flying  up  the  valley. 

"  Back  to  your  camps  !  "  had  been  the  watchward 
ever  since  Sheridan  showed  himself  on  the  field. 
Dwight's  men  were  the  first  to  stand  once  more 
upon  their  own  ground,  but  by  that  time  Sheridan's 
army  had  executed,  though  without  much  regard  to 
order,  a  complete  left  wheel.  While  the  infantry 
took  up  its  original  positions,  the  cavalry  pursued  the 
flying  enemy  with  such  vigor  that  an  accidental  dis 
placement  of  a  single  plank  on  a  little  bridge  near 
Strasburg  caused  the  whole  of  Early's  artillery  that 
had  not  yet  passed  on,  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  Sheri- 


CEDAR  CREEK.  435 

dan.  Thus  were  taken  48  cannon,  52  caissons,  all 
the  ambulances  that  had  been  lost  in  the  morning, 
many  wagons,  and  seven  battle  flags  ;  of  the  artillery 
24  pieces  were  the  same  that  had  been  lost  in  the 
early  morning.  From  every  part  of  the  abandoned 
field  great  stacks  of  rifles  were  gathered.  The  pris 
oners  taken  were  about  1,200,  according  to  the  reports 
of  Sheridan's  officers,  or  something  over  1,000  by 
Early's  account.  Early  also  gives  his  loss  in  killed 
and  wounded,  without  distinguishing  between  the 
two,  as  i, 860,  and  reports  the  capture  of  1,429  pris 
oners  from  the  Union  army  in  the  early  hours  of  the 
day.  Of  these  he  had  made  sure  by  sending  them 
promptly  to  the  rear.  Ramseur  was  mortally  wounded 
in  the  last  stand  made  by  his  division,  and  died  a  few 
days  later  in  the  hands  and  under  the  care  of  his 
former  comrades  of  Sheridan's  army. 

Sheridan's  loss  was  644  killed,  3,430  wounded,  and 
1,591  captured  or  missing  ;  in  all,  5,665.  Of  these 
the  Sixth  Corps  had  298  killed,  1,628  wounded — to 
gether,  1,926  ;  the  Nineteenth  Corps  257  killed,  1,336 
wounded — together,  1,593.  Crook  lost  60  killed,  342 
wounded — together,  402  ;  the  cavalry  29  killed,  224 
wounded — together,  253.  The  missing  were  thus 
divided  :  Wright  194,  Emory  776,  Crook  548,  Torbert 
43.  The  greatest  proportionate  loss  of  the  day  was 
suffered  by  the  i  i4th  New  York,  which  had  21  killed, 
86  wounded,  including  17  mortally,  and  8  missing — in 
all,  115  out  of  250  engaged.  Its  fatal  casualties 
reached  1 5.2,  and  the  killed  and  wounded  42.8  per  cent, 
of  the  number  engaged.  These  figures  are  from  the 
corrected  reports  of  the  War  Department.  The  miss 
ing  exceed  the  captured,  as  set  down  in  Early's 
report,  by  only  132.  Among  the  killed  and  mortally 


436  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

wounded  were  Bidwell,  Thoburn,  Kitching,  and  that 
superb  soldier  and  accomplished  gentleman,  General 
Charles  Russell  Lowell,  who,  although  severely 
wounded  in  the  morning,  at  the  head  of  his  bri 
gade  held  fast  to  the  stone  wall  until,  in  the  last 
decisive  charge,  his  death-blow  came.  Grover  re 
ceived  a  second  severe  wound  early  in  the  final  charge 
that  broke  the  Confederate  left.  Birge  then  took  his 
division. 

Without  a  halt  and  with  scarcely  a  show  of  organ 
ized  resistance,  Early  retreated  to  Fisher's  Hill. 
Merritt  and  Custer,  uniting  on  the  south  bank  of 
Cedar  Creek,  kept  up  the  pursuit  until  the  night  was 
well  advanced,  but  soon  their  captures  became  so 
heavy  in  men  and  material,  that  help  was  needed  to 
take  care  of  them,  so,  barely  an  hour  after  going  into 
camp  the  jaded  infantry  of  Dwight  once  more  turned 
out  and  marched  with  alacrity  to  Strasburg. 

Toward  morning  Early  withdrew  his  infantry  from 
the  lines  of  Fisher's  Hill,  and  marched  on  New 
Market,  leaving  Rosser  to  cover  the  movement.  In 
the  morning,  upon  Torbert's  approach,  Rosser  retired, 
closely  pursued  to  Edenburg,  sending  Lomax  into 
the  Luray  to  guard  the  right  flank  of  the  retreating 
Confederates. 

The  strength  of  the  contending  forces  in  this  re 
markable  battle  may  always  give  ground  for  dispute. 
No  official  figures  exist  to  determine  the  question 
directly  ;  therefore  on  either  side  the  numbers  are  a 
matter  of  opinion.  The  author's,  formed  after  a 
careful  consideration  of  all  the  authorities,  is  that  when 
the  battle  began,  Wright  commanded  an  effective 
force  of  not  more  than  31,000  officers  and  men  of  all 
arms,  made  up  of  9,000  in  the  Sixth  Corps,  9,500  in 


CEDAR  CREEK.  437 

the  Nineteenth  Corps,  6,000  in  Crook's  command, 
and  6,500  cavalry.  The  infantry  probably  numbered 
23,000:  Ricketts  8,500,  Emory  9,000,  Crook  5,500. 
Of  these,  therefore,  the  hard  fighting  fell  on  17,500. 
The  losses  in  the  Sixth  and  Nineteenth  Corps,  nearly 
all  incurred  in  the  early  morning,  being  about  4,500,  the 
two  corps  should  have  mustered  13,500  for  the  coun 
ter-attack  of  the  afternoon,  yet  the  ground  they  then 
stood  upon,  from  the  road  to  the  brook,  measures 
barely  7,400  feet.  With  all  allowances,  therefore, 
Sheridan  cannot  have  taken  more  than  8,000  of  his 
infantry  into  this  attack.  This  leaves  out  Crook's 
men  bodily,  and  calls  for  5,500  unrepentant  strag 
glers  from  the  ranks  of  Emory  and  Wright — one  man 
in  three.  After  all  is  said,  unhappily  there  is  nothing 
so  extraordinary  in  this,  but  strange  indeed  would  it 
have  been  if  many  of  these  skulkers  had  come  back 
into  the  fight,  as  Sheridan  considerately  declares  they 
did. 

As  to  Early's  force,  the  difficulty  of  coming  to  a 
positive  conclusion  is  even  greater.  General  Early 
himself  says  he  went  into  the  battle  with  but  8,800 
muskets.  General  Dawes,  perhaps  the  most  accom 
plished  statistician  of  the  war,  makes  the  total  pres 
ent  for  duty  22,000  :  of  these  1 5,000  would  be  infantry. 
The  figures  presented  by  the  unprejudiced  statistician 
of  the  "  Century  War  Book"  l  call  for  15,000  of  all 
arms.  Of  these  10,000  would  be  infantry. 

Early  may  be  said  to  have  accomplished  the  ulti 
mate  object  of  his  attack  at  Cedar  Creek,  yet  at  a 
fearful  cost,  for  although  all  thought  of  transferring 
any  part  of  Sheridan's  force  to  the  James  was  for  the 

1  Vol.  iv.,  pp.  524,  532.     And  see  appendix  for  the  valuable  memorandum 
kindly  prepared  expressly  for  this  work  by  General  E.  C.  Dawes. 


438  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

moment  given  up,  on  the  other  hand  Early  had  com 
pleted  the  destruction  *  of  his  prestige,  had  suffered 
an  irreparable  diminution  of  numbers,  and  had  seen 
his  army  almost  shaken  to  pieces. 

Grant  once  more  returned  to  his  favorite  project 
of  a  movement  in  force  on  Charlottesville  and  Gor- 
donsville,  but  Sheridan  continuing  to  oppose  the 
scheme  tenaciously,  it  came  to  nothing.  His  own 
plan,  eventually  carried  out,  was  to  hold  the  lower 
valley  in  sufficient  strength,  and  to  move  against  the 
line  of  the  Virginia  Central  railway  with  all  his  cav 
alry.  The  rails  of  the  Manassas  Gap  line,  so  often 
relaid,  were  once  more  and  for  the  last  time  taken  up, 
from  the  Blue  Ridge  back  to  Augur's  outposts  at 
Bull  Run,  and  so  this  will-o'-the-wisp,  that  had  danced 
before  the  eyes  of  the  government  ever  since  1861, 
was  at  last  extinguished,  while  from  Winchester  to 
the  Potomac  the  railway,  abandoned  by  Johnston 
when  he  marched  to  Bull  Run,  was  re-constructed  to 
simplify  the  question  of  supplies. 

1  Justly  or  unjustly  ;  unjustly  I  think,  being  unable  to  see  how  any  one  could 
have  done  better. 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

VICTORY  AND   HOME. 

ON  the  7th  of  November,  on  the  battle-field  of 
Cedar  Creek,  Emory  passed  his  corps  in  review  be 
fore  Sheridan.  Sheridan  spoke  freely  and  in  the 
highest  terms  of  the  soldierly  bearing  and  good 
conduct  of  the  officers  and  men.  On  the  same  day 
the  President  broke  up  the  organization  of  the  rem 
nant  of  the  various  detachments,  still  known  as  the 
Nineteenth  Corps,  left  under  the  command  of  Canby 
in  Louisiana  and  Mississippi,  and  appointed  Emory 
to  the  permanent  command  of  the  Nineteenth  Army 
Corps  in  the  field  in  Virginia. 

The  corps  staff,  mainly  composed  of  the  same 
officers  who  with  lower  rank  had  been  serving  at 
the  headquarters  of  the  Detachment,  so  called,  since 
quitting  Louisiana,  included  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Duncan  S.  Walker,  Assistant  Adjutant-General ; 
Lieutenant-Colonel  John  M.  Sizer,  Acting-Assistant 
Inspector-General  ;  Captain  O.  O.  Potter,  Chief 
Quartermaster  ;  Captain  H.  R.  Sibley,  Chief  Com 
missary  of  Subsistence ;  Captain  Robert  F.  Wil 
kinson,  Judge  Advocate  ;  Surgeon  W.  R.  Brownell, 
Medical  Director;  Captain  Henry  C.  Inwood,  Pro 
vost-Marshal  ;  Major  Peter  French,  Captain  James 
C.  Cooley,  and  Captain  James  W.  De  Forest,  aides- 
de-camp. 

439 


440  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

On  the  1 7th  of  November  Emory  adopted  a  corps 
badge  and  a  new  system  of  headquarters  flags.  The 
badge  was  to  be  a  fan-leaved  cross  with  an  octagonal 
centre ;  for  officers,  of  gold  suspended  from  the  left 
breast  by  a  ribbon,  the  color  red,  white,  and  blue  for 
the  corps  headquarters,  red  for  the  First  division,  blue 
for  the  Second.  Enlisted  men  were  to  wear  on  the 
hat  or  cap  a  similar  badge  of  cloth,  two  inches 
square,  in  colors  like  the  ribbon.  The  flags  were  to 
have  a  similar  cross,  of  white  on  a  blue  swallow 
tail  for  corps  headquarters  ;  for  divisions,  a  white 
cross  on  a  triangular  flag,  the  ground  red  for  the  First 
division,  blue  for  the  Second  ;  the  brigade  flags  rec 
tangular  in  various  combinations  of  red,  blue,  and 
white  cross  and  ground,  the  ground  divided  horizon 
tally  for  the  brigades  of  the  First  division,  and  per 
pendicularly  for  those  of  the  Second  division. 

On  the  Qth  of  November  Sheridan  drew  back  to 
Kernstown,  meaning  to  go  into  winter  quarters. 
Early  eagerly  followed  as  far  as  Middletown,  intent 
on  discovering  what  this  might  mean  ;  but  when,  on 
the  1 2th,  Torbert  once  more  fell  upon  the  unfortunate 
cavalry  of  Rosser,  on  both  flanks  of  the  Confederate 
position,  and  completely  routed  it,  while  Dudley,  ad 
vancing  with  his  brigade  *  in  support  of  the  cavalry, 
showed  that  Sheridan  was  ready  to  give  battle,  the 
Confederate  commander  became  satisfied  that  Sheri 
dan  had  sent  no  troops  to  Petersburg.  Sheridan 
made  all  his  arrangements  to  attack  Early  on  the 
morning  of  the  I3th,  but  Early  did  not  wait  for  this, 
and  when  the  sun  rose  he  was  again  far  on  the  way 

1  Beal's,  of  Dwight's  division.  Dudley,  having  rejoined  November  2d,  com 
manded  it  till  November  I4th,  when  Beal  came  back  and  relieved  him  ;  again 
from  November  i8th  to  December  yth,  when  a  dispute  as  to  relative  and  brevet 
rank  was  ended  by  Beal's  receiving  his  commission  as  a  full  brigadier-general. 


VICTORY  AND  HOME.  441 

to  New  Market.  It  was  during  Dudley's  movement 
that  the  Nineteenth  Corps  suffered  its  last  loss  in 
battle,  the  2gth  Maine  having  one  man  wounded,  by 
name  Barton  H.  Ross. 

When  the  approach  of  winter  made  active  opera 
tions  in  the  valley  impossible,  Lee,  who  had  already 
detached  Kershaw,  called  back  to  the  defence  of 
Richmond  and  Petersburg  the  whole  of  Early's  corps, 
and  at  the  same  time,  almost  to  the  very  day,  Grant 
called  on  Sheridan  for  the  Sixth  Corps.  Thus  in  the 
second  week  of  December  Wright  rejoined  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac.  Soon  afterward  Crook's  command 
was  divided  and  detached  to  Petersburg  and  West 
Virginia,  leaving  only  Torbert  and  Emory  with  Sheri 
dan  in  the  valley.  Early,  his  force  reduced  to  Whar- 
ton  and  Rosser,  went  into  winter  quarters  at  Staunton, 
with  his  outposts  at  New  Market  and  a  signal  party 
on  watch  at  the  station  on  Massanutten. 

These  reductions  of  force,  together  with  the 
increasing  seventy  of  the  winter,  made  it  desirable 
to  occupy  a  line  nearer  the  base  of  supplies  at 
Harper's  Ferry,  and  accordingly,  on  the  3Oth  of 
December,  after  living  for  six  weeks  in  improvised 
huts  or  "shebangs,"  as  they  were  called,  roughly  put 
together  of  rails,  stones,  and  any  other  material  to 
be  found,  the  Nineteenth  Corps  broke  up  its  canton 
ment  before  Kernstown,  called  Camp  Russell,  and 
marching  over  the  frozen  ground,  took  up  a  position 
to  cover  the  railway  and  the  roads  near  Stephenson's. 
Here,  at  Camp  Sheridan,  it  was  intended  to  build 
regular  huts,  but  on  the  last  day  of  the  year,  when  the 
men  were  as  yet  without  shelter  of  any  kind,  a  heavy 
snow  storm  set  in,  during  which  they  suffered 
severely.  As  soon  as  this  was  over,  the  men  fell  to 


442  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS, 

work  in  earnest,  and  with  lumber  from  the  quarter 
master's  department  and  timber  from  the  forest,  soon 
had  the  whole  command  comfortably  housed. 

Meanwhile  Currie's  brigade,  which  had  been  so 
long  detached,  engaged  in  the  arduous  and  thankless 
duty  of  guarding  the  wagon-trains,  rejoined  Dwight's 
division.  Brigadier-General  James  D.  Fessenden 
having  succeeded  Currie  in  command  the  5th  of 
January,  1865,  the  brigade  was  again  detached  to 
Winchester;  McMillan  was  at  Summit  Point;  and 
Beal,  as  well  as  the  headquarters  of  Dwight  and 
Emory,  at  Stephenson's. 

On  the  6th  of  January  Grover's  division  bade  fare 
well  to  the  Nineteenth  Corps,  and,  embarking  upon 
the  cars  of  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  railway,  set  out 
by  way  of  Baltimore  for  some  unknown  destination. 
This  presently  proved  to  be  Savannah,  whither 
Grover  was  ordered  to  hold  the  ground  seized  by  the 
armies  under  Sherman,  while  Sherman  went  on  his 
way  through  the  Carolinas.  On  the  27th  of  Feb 
ruary,  Sheridan  broke  up  what  remained  of  his  Army 
of  the  Shenandoah,  and  placing  himself  at  the  head 
of  his  superb  column  of  10,000  troopers,  marched  to 
achieve  Grant's  longing  for  Lynchburg,  Charlottes- 
ville,  and  Gordonsville,  and  to  rejoin  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac. 

Hancock  now  took  command  of  the  Middle  Mili 
tary  Division.  Of  the  Army  of  the  Shenandoah 
there  remained  only  the  fragment  of  the  Nineteenth 
Corps.  On  the  I4th  of  March  the  men  of  Emory's 
old  division  passed  for  the  last  time  before  their 
favorite- commander.  A  week  later  was  published  to 
the  command  the  order  of  the  President,  dated 
March  20,  1865,  by  which  the  Nineteenth  Army 


VICTORY  AND  HOME.  443 

Corps  was  dissolved.  Then  bidding  them  a  tender 
and  touching  farewell,  on  the  3<Dth  of  March  Emory 
quitted  the  cantonment  at  Stephenson's,  and  went  to 
Cumberland  to  take  command  of  the  Military  De 
partment  of  that  name. 

In  the  early  days  of  April  the  tedium  of  winter 
quarters  was  relieved  by  the  good  news  of  Grant's 
successes  before  Petersburg.  It  was  evident  that 
Lee's  army  was  breaking  up,  and  to  guard  against 
the  possible  escape  of  any  fragment  of  it  by  the 
valley  highway,  on  the  4th  of  April  Hancock  sent 
Dwight's  division  back  to  Camp  Russell,  but  on  the 
7th  the  troops  were  drawn  in  to  Winchester  and 
encamped  on  the  bank  of  Abraham's  Creek.  Here, 
at  midnight  on  the  Qth  of  April,  the  whole  command 
turned  out  to  hear  the  official  announcement  of  Lee's 
surrender.  The  next  morning,  in  a  drenching  rain, 
Dwight  marched  eighteen  miles  to  Summit  Point. 
On  the  2Oth  of  April  the  division  moved  by  railway 
to  Washington,  where  it  arrived  on  the  morning  of 
the  2ist,  and  with  colors  shrouded  in  black  for  the 
memory  of  Lincoln,  marched  past  the  President's 
house  and  encamped  at  Tennallytown  on  the  same 
ground  the  detachments  of  the  corps  had  occupied 
on  the  night  of  the  i3th  of  July  the  year  before. 
Here  the  duty  devolved  upon  the  division  of  guard 
ing  all  the  ways  out  of  Washington  toward  the 
northwest,  from  Rock  Creek  to  the  Potomac,  in 
order  to  prevent  the  escape  of  such  of  the  assassins 
of  the  President  as  might  still  be  lurking  within  the 
city.  This  was  but  a  part  of  the  heavy  and  continu 
ous  line  of  sentries  that  stretched  for  thirty-five  miles 
around  the  capital.  A  week  later  Dwight  moved  to 
the  neighborhood  of  Bladensburg  and  encamped  on 


444  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

the  line  the  division  had  been  ordered  to  defend  on 
the  afternoon  of  its  arrival  from  New  Orleans.  In 
the  first  week  of  May  heavy  details  were  furnished 
to  guard  the  prison  on  the  grounds  of  the  arsenal 
where  the  assassins  were  confined. 

The  armies  of  Meade  and  Sherman  were  now 
concentrating  on  the  hills  about  Washington,  pre 
paratory  to  passing  in  review  before  President  John 
son  ;  and  Dwight  being  ordered  to  report  to  Willcox, 
then  commanding  the  Ninth  Army  Corps,  and  to 
follow  that  corps  on  the  occasion  of  the  review, 
Willcox  inspected  the  division  on  the  I2th  of  May 
on  the  parade  ground  of  Fort  Bunker  Hill. 

Sheridan,  although  he  had  brought  up  his  cavalry 
for  the  great  review,  had  been  ordered  to  take  com 
mand  in  the  Southwest,  and  as  Grant  deemed  the 
matter  urgent,  because  of  French  and  Mexican  com 
plications,  Sheridan  was  destined  to  have  no  part 
in  the  approaching  ceremonies,  yet  he  could  not 
resist  the  chance  of  once  more  looking  at  what 
was  left  of  the  infantry  that  had  followed  him  in 
triumph  through  the  Shenandoah.  When  the  men 
saw  him  riding  at  the  side  of  Willcox,  mounted  once 
more  upon  "  Rienzi"and  wearing  the  same  animated 
smile  that  had  cheered  and  encouraged  them  in  the 
evil  hour  at  Winchester,  before  the  cliffs  of  Fisher's 
Hill,  and  in  the  gloom  of  Cedar  Creek,  they  were 
not  to  be  restrained  from  violating  all  the  solemn  pro 
prieties  of  the  occasion,  but  broke  out  into  a  tumult 
of  cheers. 

On  the  22d  of  May,  Dwight  broke  camp  near 
Bladensburg,  and,  marching  to  the  plain  east  of  the 
Capitol,  near  the  Congressional  Cemetery,  went  into 
bivouac  with  the  Ninth  Corps.  Here  the  men,  after 


VICTORY  AND  HOME.  445 

their  long  and  hard  field  service,  gave  way  to  open 
disgust  at  hearing  the  order  read  on  parade  requiring 
them  to  appear  in  white  gloves  at  the  great  review. 
On  Tuesday,  the  23d  of  May,  the  review  took  place. 
The  men  were  up  at  three,  and  were  inspected  at  half- 
past  seven,  but  it  was  half-past  ten  before  D wight 
took  up  the  line  of  march  in  the  rear  of  the  Ninth 
Corps,  followed  by  the  Fifth. 

On  the  ist  of  June,  1865,  the  breaking  up  began. 
The  H4th  and  n6th  New  York  were  taken  from 
Real's  brigade,  and  the  i33d  from  Fessenden's,  and 
ordered  to  be  mustered  out  of  the  service  of  the 
United  States.  The  8th  Vermont  had  already  gone 
to  the  Sixth  Corps  to  join  the  old  Vermont  brigade. 
The  rest  of  Dwight's  division  embarked  on  transport 
steamers,  under  orders  for  Savannah,  where  they 
landed  on  the  4th  of  June.  There  they  found  many 
of  their  comrades  of  Grover' s  division. 

To  return  to  Grover.  Embarking  at  Baltimore 
about  the  nth  of  January,  after  some  detention,  the 
advance  of  his  division  landed  at  Savannah  on  the 
1 9th  of  January.  The  rest  of  the  division  gradually 
followed,  and  at  Savannah  the  troops  remained  doing 
garrison  and  police  duty  until  about  the  4th  of  March, 
when  Grover  was  ordered  to  take  transports  and  join 
Schofield  in  North  Carolina,  in  order  to  open  com 
munication  with  Sherman's  army,  then  advancing 
once  more  toward  the  sea-coast.  Wilmington  had 
fallen  on  the  22d  of  February.  Then  Schofield  sent 
a  force,  under  Cox,  to  open  the  railway  from  New- 
bern  to  Goldsboro,  on  the  south  bank  of  the  Neuse. 
D.  H.  Hill  met  and  fought  him  on  the  8th,  9th,  and 
loth,  on  the  south  side  of  the  river ;  but,  the  Con 
federates  retreating  to  Goldsboro  to  oppose  Sherman's 


446  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

march,  Schofield  occupied  Kinston  on  the  i4th  and 
Goldsboro  on  the  2ist.  In  these  movements  the 
3d  brigade,  formerly  Sharpe's,  now  commanded  by 
Day,  took  part,  while  Dirge's  brigade  was  posted 
at  Morehead  City,  and  Molineux's  at  Wilmington. 

On  the  ist  of  April,  Schofield's  force,  composed  of 
the  Tenth  Corps,  under  Terry,  and  the  Twenty-third 
Corps,  under  Cox,  was  reconstructed  by  Sherman  as 
the  centre  of  his  armies,  and  designated  as  the  Army 
of  the  Ohio.  The  next  day  the  troops  of  Grover's 
division,  then  in  North  Carolina,  were  attached  to 
the  Tenth  Corps,  reorganized  into  three  brigades, 
and  designated  as  the  First  division  ;  the  command 
being  given  to  Birge,  and  the  brigades  being  com 
manded  by  the  three  senior  colonels,  Washburn, 
Graham,  and  Day.  Some  time  before  this,  Shunk's 
4th  brigade  of  Grover's  division  had  been  broken 
up  and  its  regiments  distributed  ;  the  8th  and  i8th 
Indiana  to  Washburn,  the  28th  Iowa  to  Graham,  and 
the  24th  Iowa  to  Day.  The  22d  Indiana  battery 
formed  the  artillery  of  the  division.  All  active  opera 
tions  coming  to  an  end  with  the  final  surrender  of 
Johnston  on  the  26th  of  April,  about  the  4th  of  May 
the  division  went  back  to  Savannah.  On  the  nth  of 
May  it  marched  to  Augusta,  leaving  Day  with  all  his 
regiments  except  the  24th  Iowa  and  the  i28th  New 
York  to  take  care  of  Savannah. 

Meanwhile,  orders  being  issued  by  the  government 
for  disbanding  the  regiments  whose  time  was  to  ex 
pire  before  the  ist  of  November,  and  the  re-enlisted 
veterans  of  Dwight's  division  beginning  to  arrive  in 
Savannah  on  the  5th  of  June,  Birge's  brigade  came 
down  from  Augusta  on  the  ;th  and  Day  marched  on 
the  Qth  to  replace  it. 


VICTORY  AND  HOME.  447 

From  this  time  the  work  of  disintegration  went  on 
rapidly,  yet  all  too  slowly  for  the  impatience  of  the 
soldiers,  now  thinking  only  of  home,  and  soon  sickened 
by  the  weary  routine  of  provost  duty  in  the  first  dull 
days  of  peace.  What  was  left  of  the  divisions  of 
Dwight  and  Grover  continued  to  occupy  Charleston, 
Savannah,  Augusta,  and  the  chief  towns  of  Georgia 
and  South  Carolina. 

When  at  last  the  final  separation  came,  and  little 
by  little  the  old  corps  fell  apart,  every  man,  as  with 
inexpressible  yearning  he  turned  his  face  homeward, 
bore  with  him,  as  the  richest  heritage  of  his  children 
and  his  children's  children,  the  proud  consciousness 
of  duty  done. 


APPENDIX. 


449 


ROSTERS. 


I. 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  GULF. 

As  of  March  22,  1862. 


FIRST  BRIGADE  : 

Brigadier-General  JOHN  W.  PHELPS 


8th  New  Hampshire 

gth  Connecticut 

7th  Vermont 

8th  Vermont 

1 2th  Connecticut 

I3th  Connecticut 

1st  Vermont  Battery 

2d  Vermont  Battery 

4th  Massachusetts  Battery 


Colonel 
Colonel 
Colonel 
Colonel 
Colonel 
Colonel 
Captain 
Captain 
Captain 
Captain 
A  2d  Battalion  Massachusetts  Cavalry,  Captain 


SECOND  BRIGADE  : 

Brigadier-General  THOMAS  WILLIAMS 


26th  Massachusetts 

3ist  Massachusetts 

2ist  Indiana 

6th  Michigan 

4th  Wisconsin 

6th  Massachusetts  Battery 

2d  Massachusetts  Battery 

C    2d  Battalion  Massachusetts  Cavalry 

THIRD  BRIGADE  : 

Colonel  GEORGE  F.  SHEPLEY 
1 2th  Maine 
1 3th  Maine 


Colonel 
Colonel 
Colonel 
Colonel 
Colonel 
Captain 
Captain 
Captain 
Captain 


HAWKES  FEARING,  Jr. 
THOMAS  W.  CAHILL 
GEORGE  T.  ROBERTS 
STEPHEN  THOMAS 
HENRY  C.  DEMING 
HENRY  W.  BIRGE 
GEORGE  W.  DUNCAN 
PYTHAGORAS  E.  HOLCOMB 
CHARLES  H.  MANNING  ] 
GEORGE  G.  TRULL 
S.  TYLER  READ 


ALPHA  B.  FARR 
OLIVER  P.  GOODING 
JAMES  W.  MCMILLAN 
THOMAS  S.  CLARK 
HALBERT  E.  PAINE 
CHARLES  EVERETT 
ORMAND  F.  NIMS 
HENRY  A.  DURIVAGE  * 
JONATHAN  E.  COWAN 


1  Resigned  October  20,  1862. 


Lieutenant-Colonel  W.  K.  KIMBALL 
Colonel  NEAL  Dow 
Colonel  HENRY  RUST,  Jr. 

2  Dro-wned  Aj>ril  23, 1862. 


451 


452  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

i4th  Maine  Colonel  FRANK  S.  NICKERSON 

1 5th  Maine  Colonel  JOHN  McCLUSKY 

Colonel  ISAAC  DYER 

30th  Massachusetts  Colonel  N.  A.  M.  DUDLEY 

1st  Maine  Battery  Captain  E.  W.  THOMPSON 

B  2d  Battalion  Massachusetts  Cavalry      Captain  JAMES  M.  MAGEE 


II. 
TECHE  AND  PORT  HUDSON. 

As  of  April  30,  1863. 

FIRST  DIVISION. 
Major-General  CHRISTOPHER  C.  AUGUR 

FIRST  BRIGADE  : 

Colonel  EDWARD  P.  CHAPIN 

n6th  New  York  Lieutenant-Colonel  JOHN  HIGGINS 

2ist  Maine l  Colonel  ELIJAH  D.  JOHNSON 

48th  Massachusetts l  Colonel  EBEN  F.  STONE 

49th  Massachusetts  1  Colonel  WILLIAM  F.  BARTLETT 

SECOND  BRIGADE  : 

Brigadier-General  GODFREY  WEITZEL 

8th  Vermont  Colonel  STEPHEN  THOMAS 

75th  New  York  Colonel  ROBERT  B.  MERRITT 

t6oth  New  York  Colonel  CHARLES  C.  DWIGHT 

1 2th  Connecticut  Colonel  LED  YARD  COLBURN 

Lieutenant-Colonel  FRANK  H.  PECK 
H4th  New  York  Colonel  ELISHA  B.  SMITH 

THIRD  BRIGADE  : 

Colonel  NATHAN  A.  M.  DUDLEY 

30th  Massachusetts  Lieutenant-Colonel  WILLIAM  W.  BULLOCK 

2d  Louisiana  Colonel  CHARLES  J.  PAINE 

50th  Massachusetts  J  Colonel  CARLOS  P.  MESSER 

i6ist  New  York  Colonel  GABRIEL  T.  HARROWER 

1 74th  New  York  Colonel  THEODORE  W.  PARMELE 

ARTILLERY  : 

ist  Maine  Captain  ALBERT  W.  BRADBURY 

Lieutenant  JOHN  E.  MORTON 
6th  Massachusetts  Captain  WILLIAM  W.  CARRUTH 

Lieutenant  JOHN  F.  PHELPS 
A     ist  United  States  Captain  E.  C.  BAINBRIDGE 

1  Nine-months?  men. 


APPENDIX.  453 

SECOND  DIVISION. 
Brigadier-General  T.  W.  SHERMAN 

FIRST  BRIGADE  : 

Brigadier-General  NEAL  Dow 

6th  Michigan  Colonel  THOMAS  S.  CLARK 

1 28th  New  York  Colonel  DAVID  S.  COWLES 

26th  Connecticut  »  Colonel  THOMAS  G.  KINGSLEY 

1 5th  New  Hampshire  '  Colonel  JOHN  W.  KINGMAN 

SECOND  BRIGADE  : 

Colonel  ALPHA  B.  FARR 

26th  Massachusetts  Lieutenant-Colonel  JOSIAH  A.  SAWTELL 

gth  Connecticut  Colonel  THOMAS  W.  CAHILL 

47th  Massachusetts »  Colonel  Lucius  B.  MARSH 

42d  Massachusetts l  Lieutenant-Colonel  JOSEPH  STEDMAN 

28th  Maine l  Colonel  EPHRAIM  W.  WOODMAN 

THIRD  BRIGADE  : 

Colonel  FRANK  S.  NICKERSON 

i4th  Maine  Lieutenant-Colonel  THOMAS  W.  PORTER 

1 77th  New  York '  Colonel  IRA  W.  AINSWORTH 

i6sth  New  York  Lieutenant-Colonel  ABEL  SMITH,  Jr. 

24th  Maine  l  Colonel  GEORGE  M.  ATWOOD 

ARTILLERY  : 

1 8th  New  York  Captain  ALBERT  G.  MACK 

G  5th  United  States  Lieutenant  JACOB  B.  RAWLES 

ist  Vermont  Captain  George  T.  HEBARD 

THIRD  DIVISION. 

Brigadier-General  WILLIAM  H.  EMORY 

FIRST  BRIGADE  : 

Colonel  TIMOTHY  INGRAHAM,  38th  Massachusetts 

i62d  New  York  Colonel  LEWIS  BENEDICT 

noth  New  York  Colonel  CLINTON  H.  SAGF 

1 6th  New  Hampshire  l  Colonel  JAMES  PIKE 

4th  Massachusetts  !  Colonel  HENRY  WALKER 

SECOND  BRIGADE  : 

Colonel  HALBERT  E.  PAINE 

4th  Wisconsin  Lieutenant-Colonel  SIDNEY  A.  BEAN 

1 33d  New  York  Colonel  LEONARD  D.  H.  CURRIE 

1  Nine-months^  men. 


454  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

1 73d  New  York  Colonel  LEWIS  M.  PECK 

8th  New  Hampshire  Colonel  HAWKES  FEARING,  Jr. 

THIRD  BRIGADE  : 

Colonel  OLIVER  P.  GOODING 

3 ist  Massachusetts  Lieutenant-Colonel  W.  S.  B.  HOPKINS 

38th  Massachusetts  Lieutenant-Colonel  WILLIAM  L.  RODMAN 

1 56th  New  York  Colonel  JACOB  SHARPE 

1 75th  New  York  Colonel  MICHAEL  K.  BRYAN 

53d  Massachusetts  l  Colonel  JOHN  W.  KIMBALL 

ARTILLERY  : 

4th  Massachusetts  Captain  GEORGE  G.  TRULL 

F  ist  United  States  Captain  RICHARD  C.  DURYEA 

2d  Vermont  Captain  PYTHAGORAS  E.  HOLCOMB 

FOURTH  DIVISION. 

Brigadier-General  CUVIER  GROVER 

FIRST  BRIGADE  : 

Brigadier-General  WILLIAM  DWIGHT,  Jr. 

6th  New  York 2  Colonel  WILLIAM  WILSON 

gist  New  York  Colonel  JACOB  VAN  ZANDT 

i3ist  New  York  Lieutenant-Colonel  NICHOLAS  W.  DAY 

22d  Maine  !  Colonel  SIMON  G.  JERRARD 

ist  Louisiana  Colonel  RICHARD  E.  HOLCOMB 

SECOND  BRIGADE  : 

Colonel  WILLIAM  K.  KIMBALL 

1 2th  Maine  Lieutenant-Colonel  EDWARD  ILLSLEY 

4ist  Massachusetts  Colonel  THOMAS  E.  CHICKERING 

52d  Massachusetts !  Colonel  H ALBERT  S.  GREENLEAF 

24th  Connecticut  l  Colonel  SAMUEL  M.  MANSFIELD 

THIRD  BRIGADE  : 

Colonel  HENRY  W.  BIRGE 

25th  Connecticut *  Colonel  GEORGE  P.  BISSELL 

26th  Maine  »  Colonel  NATHANIEL  H.  HUBBARD 

1 59th  New  York  Colonel  EDWARD  L.  MOLINEUX 

1 3th  Connecticut  Lieutenant-Colonel  ALEXANDER  WARNER 

1  Nine-months'  men. 

a  Detached  for  muster  out  May  20,  1863. 


APPENDIX. 


455 


ARTILLERY  . 

2d  Massachusetts 
L  ist  United  States 
C  2d  United  States 


Captain  ORMAND  F.  NIMS 
Captain  HENRY  W.  CLOSSON 
Lieutenant  JOHN  I.  RODGERS 


OUTSIDE  OF  THE  DIVISIONS. 


ist  Louisiana  Native  Guards  '  Colonel 

2d  Louisiana  Native  Guards 2  Colonel 

3d  Louisiana  Native  Guards  J  Colonel 

4th  Louisiana  Native  Guards  l  Colonel 

1 3th  Maine  2  Colonel 

23d  Connecticut 3,  7  Colonel 

1 76th  New  York  3, 8  Colonel 

goth  New  York  4  Colonel 

47th  Pennsylvania  4  Colonel 

28th  Connecticut 5,  '  Colonel 

1 5th  Maine5  Colonel 

7th  Vermont  5  Colonel 


SPENCER  H.  STAFFORD 
NATHAN  W.  DANIELS 
JOHN  A.  NELSON 
CHARLES  W.  DREW 
HENRY  RUST,  Jr. 
CHARLES  E.  L.  HOLMES 
CHARLES  C.  NOTT 
JOSEPH  S.  MORGAN 

TlLGHMAN  H.  GOOD 

SAMUEL  P.  FERRIS 

ISAAC  DYER 

WILLIAM  C.  HOLBROOK 


ARTILLERY  : 

H  2d  United  States  6 

K  2d  United  States  B 

1st  Indiana  Heavy  l 

1 2th  Massachusetts  l 

B  ist  Louisiana  N.  G.  Heavy 2 

1 3th  Massachusetts  2 

2 ist  New  York2 

2$th  New  York 2 

26th  New  York  2 


Captain  FRANK  H.  LARNED 
Captain  HARVEY  A.  ALLEN 
Colonel  JOHN  A.  Keith 
Lieutenant  EDWIN  M.  CHAMBERLIN 
Captain  LOREN  RYGAARD 
Captain  CHARLES  H.  J.  HAMLEN 
Captain  JAMES  BARNES 
Captain  JOHN  A.  GROW 
Captain  GEORGE  W.  Fox 


CAVALRY : 

ist  Louisiana  C  and  E  l 
ist  Louisiana  A  and  B  6 
2d  Rhode  Island  Battalion  6 
2d    Massachusetts    Cavalry 
talion  A  2 

B1 

C« 

1 4th  New  York  Cavalry 
ist  Texas2 

1  With  Augur. 
a  Defences  of  New  Orleans. 
8  La  Fourche  District. 
*  Key  West. 


Bat- 


Captain  J.  F.  GODFREY 
Captain  HENRY  F.  WILLIAMSON 
Lieutenant-Colonel  A.  W.  CORLISS 

Captain  S.  TYLER  READ 
Captain  JAMES  M.  MAGEE 
Captain  JONATHAN  E.  COWAN 
Lieutenant  SOLON  A.  PERKINS 
Colonel  THADDEUS  P.  MOTT 
Colonel  EDMUND  J.  DAVIS 

5  Pens  cicala . 
•  With  Weitzel. 

7  Nine-months'  men. 

8  Partly  nine-months1  men. 


456  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

m. 
AFTER  PORT  HUDSON. 

August,   1863. 

FIRST  DIVISION. 

Brigadier-General  GODFREY  WEITZEL.J 
Brigadier-General  WILLIAM  H.  EMORY.* 

FIRST  BRIGADE  : 

Colonel  N.  A.  M.  DUDLEY 

Colonel  GEORGE  M.  LOVE 

3oth  Massachusetts  Lieutenant-Colonel  W.  W.  BULLOCK 

2d  Louisiana  Colonel  CHARLES  J.  PAINE 

i6ist  New  York  Lieutenant-Colonel  W.  B.  KINSEY 

1 74th  New  York  Colonel  BENJAMIN  F.  GOTT 

n6th  New  York  Colonel  GEORGE  M.  LOVE 

SECOND  BRIGADE  : 

Colonel  OLIVER  P.  GOODING 
Colonel  JACOB  SHARPE 
3 ist  Massachusetts  Colonel  OLIVER  P.  GOODING 

Lieutenant-Colonel  W.  S.  B.  HOPKINS 

38th  Massachusetts  Lieutenant-Colonel  JAS.  P.  RICHARDSON 

1 28th  New  York  Colonel  JAMES  SMITH 

1 5  6th  New  York  Colonel  JACOB  SHARPE 

1 75th  New  York  Lieutenant-Colonel  JOHN  A.  FOSTER 

THIRD  BRIGADE  : 

Colonel  ROBERT  B.  MERRITT 
1 2th  Connecticut  Colonel  LED  YARD  COLBURN 

Lieutenant-Colonel  FRANK  H.  PECK 

75th  New  York  Captain  HENRY  B.  FITCH 

H4th  New  York  Colonel  SAMUEL  R.  PER  LEE 

i6oth  New  York  Colonel  CHARLES  C.  DWIGHT 

Lieutenant-Colonel  JOHN  B.  VAN  PETTEN 
8th  Vermont  Colonel  STEPHEN  THOMAS 

ARTILLERY  : 

Captain  E.  C.  BAINBRIDGE 

ist  Maine  Captain  ALBERT  W.  BRADBURY 

1 8th  New  York  Captain  ALBERT  G.  MACK 

A  ist  United  States  Captain  EDMUND  C.  BAINBRIDGE 

6th  Massachusetts  8  Captain  WILLIAM  W.  CARRUTH 

1  Tc  December  gth.  a  Front  December  i-$th. 

3  From  A  rtillery  Reserve \  in  December. 


APPENDIX.  457 

SECOND  DIVISION. 
Broken  up  July  loth. 

THIRD  DIVISION. 

Brigadier-General  WILLIAM  H.  EMORY. 
Brigadier-General  CUVIER  GROVER. 

FIRST  BRIGADE  : 

Brigadier-General  FRANK  S.  NICKERSON 

I4th  Maine  Colonel  THOMAS  W.  PORTER 

noth  New  York  Colonel  CLINTON  H.  SAGE 

i62d  New  York  Colonel  LEWIS  BENEDICT 

i6sth  New  York  Lieutenant-Colonel  GOUVERNEUR  CARR 

Captain  FELIX  AGNUS 

SECOND  BRIGADE  : 

Brigadier-General  JAMES  W.  MCMILLAN 
26th  Massachusetts  Colonel  ALPHA  B.  FARR 

Major  EUSEBIUS  S.  CLARK 
8th  New  Hampshire  Colonel  HAWKES  FEARING,  Jr. 

Captain  JAMES  J.  LADD 

1 33d  New  York  Colonel  L.  D.  H.  CURRIE 

Captain  JAMES  K.  FULLER 
1 73d  New  York  Colonel  LEWIS  M.  PECK 

ARTILLERY  : 
4th  Massachusetts  Captain  GEORGE  G.  TRULL 

Lieutenant  GEORGE  W.  TAYLOR 
F  ist  United  States  Captain  RICHARD  G.  DURYEA 

Lieutenant  HARDMAN  P.  NORRIS 
ist  Vermont  Captain  GEORGE  T.  HEBARD 

Lieutenant  EDWARD  RICE  , 

FOURTH  DIVISION. 

Brigadier-General  CUVIER  GROVER. 
Colonel  EDWARD  G.  BECKWITH. 

FIRST  BRIGADE  : 

Colonel  HENRY  W.  BIRGE 

1 3th  Connecticut  Captain  APOLLOS  COMSTOCK 

goth  New  York  Colonel  JOSEPH  S.  MORGAN 

Lieutenant-Colonel  NELSON  SHAURMAN 
1 3  ist  New  York  Colonel  NICHOLAS  W.  DAY 

1 59th  New  York  Colonel  EDWARD  L.  MOLINEUX 


458  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

SECOND  BRIGADE  : 

Colonel  THOMAS  W.  CAHILL 

gth  Connecticut  Lieutenant-Colonel  RICHARD  FITZ  GIBBONS 

ist  Louisiana  Colonel  WILLIAM  O.  FISKE 

I2th  Maine  Colonel  WILLIAM  K.  KIMBALL 

I3th  Maine l  Colonel  HENRY  RUST,  Jr. 

1 5th  Maine  !  Colonel  ISAAC  DYER 

97th  Illinois  *  Colonel  FRIEND  S.  RUTHERFORD 

ARTILLERY  : 

25th  New  York  Captain  JOHN  A.  GROW 

26th  New  York  Captain  GEORGE  W.  Fox 

C  2d  United  States  Lieutenant  THEODORE  BRADLEY 

L  ist  United  States  *  Captain  HENRY  W.  CLOSSON 

Lieutenant  JAMES  A.  SANDERSON 

CAVALRY : 
3d  Massachusetts 4  Colonel  T.  E.  CHICKERING 

Lieutenant-Colonel  LORENZO  D.  SARGENT 
ist  Texas 5  Colonel  EDMUND  J.  DAVIS 

4th  Wisconsin  6  Colonel  FREDERICK  A.  BOARDMAN 

Major  GEORGE  W.  MOORE 

RESERVE  ARTILLERY  • : 

Captain  HENRY  W.  CLOSSON 

2d  Massachusetts  Captain  ORMAND  F.  NIMS 

6th  Massachusetts 7  Captain  WILLIAM  W.  CARRUTH 

L  ist  United  States  e  Captain  HENRY  W.  CLOSSON 

Lieutenant  FRANCK  E.  TAYLOR 

OUTSIDE  OF  THE  DIVISIONS. 

Headquarters  Troops  Compa-    Captain  RICHARD  W.  FRANCIS 
nies  A  and  B  * 
Troop  C  Captain  FRANK  SAYLES 

DEFENCES  OF  NEW  ORLEANS. 

Colonel  E.  G.  BECKWITH 

24th  Connecticut  10  Colonel  SAMUEL  M.  MANSFIELD 

3ist  Massachusetts  Captain  ELIOT  BRIDGMAN 

1  In  -$d  Brigade \  id  Division,  Thirteenth  Corps \  December  -$\st. 

*  December  y.st,from  id  Brigade,  +th  Division,  Thirteenth  Corfu. 
3  From  A.  rtillery  Reserve ',  in  December. 

*  At  Port  Hudson. 
8  At  New  Orleans. 

6  At  Baton  Rouge. 

7  In  First  Division,  December  yst. 

8  In  Fourth  Division,  December  ^itt. 

9  Raised  in  Louisiana;  re-enlisted  nine-months'  mer,. 

10  Nine-months*  men. 


APPENDIX.  459 

« 
1 76th  New  York  Colonel  CHARLES  C.  NOTT 

Major  MORGAN  MORGAN,  Jr. 

ist  Louisiana  Cavalry  Lieutenant-Colonel  HARAI  ROBINSON 

A  3d  Massachusetts  Cavalry         Lieutenant  HENRY  D.  POPE 
i4th  New  York  Cavalry  Lieutenant-Colonel  ABRAHAM  BASSFORD 

I2th  Massachusetts  Battery          Captain  JACOB  MILLER 
I3th  Massachusetts  Battery          Captain  CHARLES  H.  J.  HAMLEN 
1 5th  Massachusetts  Battery          Captain  TIMOTHY  PEARSON 
gist  New  York  l  Colonel  JACOB  VAN  ZANDT 

PORT  HUDSON. 

Brigadier-General  GEORGE  L.  ANDREWS 
ist  Michigan  Heavy  Artillery     Colonel  THOMAS  S.  CLARK 
2 ist  New  York  Battery  Captain  JAMES  BARNES 

Battery  G  5th  United  States        Lieutenant  JACOB  B.  RAWLES 
2d  Vermont  Battery  Captain  P.  E.  HOLCOMB 


IV. 
RED  RIVER. 

As  of  March  13,  1864. 

FIRST  DIVISION. 
Brigadier-General  WILLIAM  H.  EMORY 

FIRST  BRIGADE: 

Brigadier-General  WILLIAM  DWIGHT,  Jr. 

2gth  Maine  Colonel  GEORGE  L.  BEAL 

H4th  New  York  Colonel  SAMUEL  R.  PER  LEE 

Lieutenant-Colonel  HENRY  B.  MORSE 

n6th  New  York  Colonel  GEORGE  M.  LOVE 

1 5 3d  New  York  Colonel  EDWIN  P.  DAVIS 

i6ist  New  York  Lieutenant-Colonel  W.  B.  KINSEY 

30th  Massachusetts  *  Colonel  N.  A.  M.  DUDLEY 

SECOND  BRIGADE  : 

Brigadier-General  JAMES  W.  McMiLLAN 

I2th  Connecticut a  Lieutenant-Colonel  FRANK  H.  PECK 

1 3th  Maine  Colonel  HENRY  RUST,  Jr. 

1 5th  Maine  Colonel  ISAAC  DYER 

i6oth  New  York  Colonel  CHARLES  C.  DWIGHT 

Lieutenant-Colonel  JOHN  B.  VAN  PETTEN 
47th  Pennsylvania  Colonel  TILGHMAN  H.  GOOD 

8th  Vermont  Colonel  STEPHEN  THOMAS 

1  Heavy  Artillery.  *  On  veteran  furlough. 


460  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

9 

THIRD  BRIGADE  : 

Colonel  LEWIS  BENEDICT 

30th  Maine  Colonel  FRANCIS  FESSENDEN 

i62d  New  York  Lieutenant-Colonel  JUSTUS  \V.  BLANCHARD 

i6sth  New  York  Lieutenant-Colonel  GOUVERNEUR  CARR 

1 73d  New  York  '  Colonel  LEWIS  M.  PECK 

Captain  HOWARD  C.  CONRADY 
ARTILLERY  : 

Captain  GEORGE  T.  HEBARD 
25th  New  York  Captain  JOHN  A.  GROW 

Lieutenant  IRVING  D.  SOUTHWORTH 

L  ist  United  States  Lieutenant  FRANCK  E.  TAYLOR 

ist  Vermont  2  Lieutenant  EDWARD  RICE 

ist  Delaware  3  BENJAMIN  NIELDS 

SECOND  DIVISION. 

Brigadier-General  CUVIER  GROVER 
FIRST  BRIGADE  : 

Brigadier-General  FRANK  S.  NICKERSON 
9th  Connecticut 4  Colonel  THOMAS  W.  CAHILL 

1 2th  Maine  4  Colonel  WILLIAM  K.  KIMBALL 

I4th  Maine  4  Colonel  THOMAS  W.  PORTER 

26th  Massachusetts 4  Colonel  ALPHA  B.  FARR 

1 33d  New  York  Colonel  L.  D.  H.  CURRIE 

1 76th  New  York  Colonel  CHARLES  C.  NOTT 

Major  CHARLES  LEWIS 
SECOND  BRIGADE  : 

Brigadier-General  HENRY  W.  BIRGE 
Colonel  EDWARD  L.  MOLINEUX 

1 3th  Connecticut  Colonel  CHARLES  D.  BLINN 

ist  Louisiana  Colonel  WILLIAM  O.  FISKE 

goth  New  York  6  Major  JOHN  C.  SMART 

159th  New  York  Colonel  EDWARD  L.  MOLINEUX 

Lieutenant-Colonel  EDWARD  L.  GAUL 
i3ist  New  York  •  Colonel  NICHOLAS  W.  DAY 

THIRD  BRIGADE  : 

Colonel  JACOB  SHARPE 

38th  Massachusetts  Lieutenant-Colonel  JAMES  P.  RICHARDSON 

1 28th  New  York  Colonel  JAMES  SMITH 

1 56th  New  York  Captain  JAMES  J.  HOYT 

1 75th  New  York  Captain  CHARLES  MCCARTHEY 

1  The  \it,th  consolidated  with  the  173^. 

3  In  Reserve  A  rtillery,  April  y>th. 
8  In  Reserve  A  rtillery ,  March  yist. 

4  On  veteran  furlough. 
8  Three  companies. 

6  In  district  of  La  Fourche^  Colonel  Day  commanding  the  district. 


APPENDIX. 


461 


ARTILLERY  : 

Captain  GEORGE  W.  Fox 

7th  Massachusetts  Captain  NEWMAN  W.  STORER 

26th  New  York  Captain  GEORGE  W.  Fox 

F  ist  United  States  l  Lieutenant  HARDMAN  P.  NORRIS 

Lieutenant  WILLIAM  L.  HASKIN 
C  2d  United  States  Lieutenant  JOHN  I.  RODGERS 

ARTILLERY  RESERVE  : 

Captain  HENRY  W.  CLOSSON 

ist  Delaware  2  Captain  BENJAMIN  NIELDS 

D  ist  Indiana  Heavy  Captain  WILLIAM  S.  HINKLE 


V. 
SHENANDOAH. 

From  June  27,   1864. 

FIRST  DIVISION. 
Brigadier-General  WILLIAM  DVVIGHT 


FIRST  BRIGADE  : 

Colonel  GEORGE 

2gth  Maine 
3Oth  Massachusetts 
goth  New  York  3 
1 1 4th  New  York 
1 1 6th  New  York 
1 5  3d  New  York 


BEAL 

Colonel  GEORGE  L.  BEAL 
Colonel  N.  A.  M.  DUDLEY 
Lieutenant-Colonel  NELSON  SHAURMAN 
Colonel  SAMUEL  R.  PER  LEE 
Colonel  GEORGE  M.  LOYE 
Colonel  EDWIN  P.  DAVIS 


SECOND  BRIGADE : 

Brigadier-General  JAMES  W.  McMiLLAN 


1 2th  Connecticut 


1 3th  Maine4 
1 5th  Maine4 
i6oth  New  York 

47th  Pennsylvania 
8th  Vermont 


Lieutenant-Colonel  FRANK  H.  PECK 
Captain  SIDNEY  E.  CLARKE 
Lieutenant-Colonel  GEORGE  N.  LEWIS 
Colonel  HENRY  RUST,  Jr. 
Colonel  ISAAC  DYER 
Colonel  CHARLES  C.  DWIGHT 
Lieutenant-Colonel  JOHN  B.  VAN  PETTEN 
Colonel  TILGHMAN  H.  GOOD 
Major  J.  P.  SHINDEL  GOBIN 
Colonel  STEPHEN  THOMAS 


1  With  the  Cavalry i  April 

2  In  the  ist  Division,  April  -y*th. 

z  On  veteran  furlough  in  A  ugust  and  September. 

*  On  veteran  furlough  in  August  and  September,  at  Martinsburg  afterward. 


462  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

THIRD  BRIGADE  : 

Colonel  L.  D.  II.  CURRIE 

3oth  Maine  Colonel  THOMAS  H.  HUBBARD 

1 33d  New  York  Colonel  L.  D.  H.  CURRIE 

i62d  New  York  Colonel  JUSTUS  W.  BLANCHARD 

i6sth  New  York  Lieutenant-Colonel  GOUVERNEUR  CARR 

1 73d  New  York  Colonel  LEWIS  M.  PECK 

ARTILLERY  : 

5th  New  York  Captain  ELIJAH  D.  TAFT 

SECOND  DIVISION. 
Brigadier-General  CUVIER  GROVER 

FIRST  BRIGADE  : 

Brigadier-General  HENRY  W.  BIRGE 

gth  Connecticut  Colonel  THOMAS  W.  CAHILL 

1 2th  Maine  Colonel  WILLIAM  K.  KIMBALL 

i4th  Maine  Colonel  THOMAS  W.  PORTER 

26th  Massachusetts  Colonel  ALPHA  B.  FARR 

I4th  New  Hampshire  Colonel  ALEXANDER  GARDINER 

75th  New  York  Lieutenant-Colonel  WILLOUGHBY  BABCOCK 

SECOND  BRIGADE  : 

Colonel  EDWARD  L.  MOLINEUX 

1 3th  Connecticut1  Colonel  CHARLES  D.  BLINN 

3d  Massachusetts  Cavalry  Lieutenant-Colonel  LORENZO  D.  SARGENT 

(dismounted) 

nth  Indiana  Colonel  DANIEL  MACAULEY 

22d  Iowa  Colonel  HARVEY  GRAHAM 

i3ist  New  York  Colonel  NICHOLAS  W.  DAY 

159th  New  York  Lieutenant-Colonel  WILLIAM  WALTERMIRE 

THIRD  BRIGADE  : 

Colonel  JACOB  SHARPE 
Colonel  DANIEL  MACAULEY 

38th  Massachusetts  Major  CHARLES  F.  ALLEN 

I28th  New  York  Lieutenant-Colonel  J.  P.  FOSTER 

i56th  New  York  Lieutenant-Colonel  ALFRED  NEAFIE 

1 75th  New  York  Lieutenant-Colonel  JOHN  A.  FOSTER 

1 76th  New  York  Colonel  AMBROSE  STEVENS  2 

Major  CHARLES  LEWIS 
FOURTH  BRIGADE  : 

Colonel  DAVID  SHUNK 

8th  Indiana  Lieutenant-Colonel  ALEXANDER  J.  KENNEY 

i8th  Indiana  Colonel  HENRY  D.  WASHBURN 

24th  Iowa  Colonel  JOHN  Q.  WILDS 

1  On  -veteran  furlough  in  August  and  early  September. 
*  front  November  19,  1864. 


APPENDIX.  463 

28th  Iowa  Colonel  JOHN  CONNELL 

Lieutenant-Colonel  BARTHOLOMEW  W.  WILSON 
ARTILLERY  : 

A  ist  Maine  Captain  ALBERT  W.  BRADBURY 

RESERVE  ARTILLERY  : 

Captain  ELIJAH  D.  TAFT 

Major  ALBERT  W.  BRADBURY 

D  ist  Rhode  Island  Lieutenant  FREDERICK  CHASE 

i yth  Indiana  Captain  MILTON  L.  MINER 


DETACHMENTS  LEFT  IN  LOUISIANA. 

The  following  troops  served  under  Canby  in  the  siege  of  Mobile,  March 
20-April  12,  1865  : 
IST  INDIANA  HEAVY  ARTILLERY. 

3 IST  MASSACHUSETTS,  as  mounted  infantry,  from  Pensacola,  with  Steele. 
20  MASSACHUSETTS  BATTERY.    Also  engaged  at  Daniel's  Plantation,  Alabama, 

April  ii,  1865. 

4TH  MASSACHUSETTS  BATTERY.     Afterward  at  Galveston. 
7TH  MASSACHUSETTS  BATTERY.  "  " 

i  STH  MASSACHUSETTS  BATTERY.  "  '• 

4TH  WISCONSIN  CAVALRY.     Afterward  on  Rio  Grande  in  Weitzel's  corps. 
IST  MICHIGAN  HEAVY  ARTILLERY. 
i6iST  NEW  YORK,  in  Third  brigade,  First  division,  new  Xlllth  Corps,  Kinsey 

commanding  the  brigade.       Loss  :  2  killed,  i  wounded.     Afterward  in 

Florida. 
7TH  VERMONT,  in  First  brigade,  Third  division,  new  Xlllth  Corps.     Loss  : 

18  wounded,  43  captured.     Afterward  on  Rio  Grande  in  Weitzel's  Corps 

of  Observation. 
i8TH  NEW  YORK  BATTERY. 
2 IST  NEW  YORK  BATTERY. 
26TH  NEW  YORK  BATTERY. 
BATTERY  G,  STH  U.  S.  ARTILLERY. 


STH  NEW  HAMPSHIRE,  as  mounted  infantry,  served  at  Natchez  and  at  Vidalia, 
opposite. 

giST  NEW  YORK,  after  returning  from  veteran  furlough,  September,  1864, 
went  to  Baltimore  as  part  of  Second  separate  brigade,  Vlllth  Corps. 
March,  1865,  joined  First  brigade,  Third  division,  Vth  Corps,  Army  of 
the  Potomac.  Fought  at  White  Oak  Ridge,  March  29-31,  and  Five 
Forks,  April,  1865.  Loss  :  61  killed  and  mortally  wounded,  152  wounded, 
17  captured  or  missing  ;  total,  230. 

IIOTH  NEW  YORK,  at  Key  West,  Florida,  from  February  9,  1864. 


3D  MASSACHUSETTS  CAVALRY,  detached  to  remount  December  26,  1864  ;  with 
Chapman's  brigade  ;  in  cavalry  review  May  23,  1865  ;  afterward  in 
Kansas,  Nebraska,  and  Colorado. 


LOSSES    IN    BATTLE. 


BATON    ROUGE. 

August  5,  1862. 


COMMAND. 

Killed. 

Wounded. 

Captured  or 
missing. 

Officers. 

Enlisted 
men. 

Officers. 

Enlisted 
men. 

Officers. 

Id 

.-  v 

w 

Aggregate. 

General  officers,  

I 

I 

14 
126 
119 

18 
65 
15 

i 

5 
6 

13 

9th  Connecticut  

I 
22 
36 
2 
15 

9 
91 
64 
12 
40 

9 
i 

4 

4 

12 

2ist  Indiana     .  . 

2 

7 
7 
3 
4 
i 

I4th  Maine  

3oth  Massachusetts  

I 

6th  Michigan  

I 

5 
5 

7th  Vermont 

Troop  B  Massachusetts  Cavalry..  .  . 

2d  Massachusetts  Battery  

4 

5 
8 



i 

4th  Massachusetts  Battery 

j 

6th  Massachusetts  Battery  ,,,,.... 

3 

i 

i 

Total  

4 

80 

23 

243 

I 

32 

383 

GEORGIA    LANDING. 

October  27,  1862. 


COMMAND. 

Killed. 

Wounded. 

Captured  or 
missing. 

jjj 

O 

Enlisted 
men. 

Officers. 

Enlisted 
men. 

Officers. 

Enlisted 
men. 

Aggregate. 

1  2th  Connecticut  

3 

i 
10 

I 

16 

18 
34 

; 

i 

20 

7 
20 
48 

2 

1  3th  Connecticut  

ist  Louisiana  Cavalry,  A,  B,  and  C. 
8th  New  Hampshire.  . 

2 

75th  New  York 

Total  

2 

16 

I 

73 

I 

4 

97 

464 


APPENDIX. 


465 


BISLAND. 

April  12-13,  1863. 


COMMAND. 

Killed. 

Wounded. 

Aggregate.  1 

1 

(j 

8 
i 

0 

"O 

S  a 

</)    <U 

'•2* 
W 

lili 

O     i    W 

FIRST  DIVISION,   SECOND  BRIGADE  : 

Brigadier-General  GODFREY  WEITZEL. 

; 
I 

7 
13 
5 
ii 

12 

8 
17 
7 
ii 

15 

2 
2 

2 

f  2th  Connecticut  

2 

I 

Total  Weitzel's  Brigade       

7  |       3 

48 

58 

THIRD  DIVISION  : 

Brigadier-General  WILLIAM  H.  EMORY. 

SECOND  BRIGADE  : 

Colonel  HALBERT  E.  PAINE. 

. 

5 
4 

2 
2 

I 

8 
20 

5 
7 

13 

25 
7 
ii 

~56~ 

8th  New  Hampshire  

2 

Total  Second  Brigade 

13 

3 

40 

THIRD  BRIGADE  : 

Colonel  OLIVER  P.  GOODING. 
3  ist  Massachusetts        .            .        

I 

28 
18 
6 
9 

6 

35 

22 

7 

12 

38th  Massachusetts   

i 

i 

5 
3 
i 

i 

156th  New  York 

53d  Massachusetts  

i 

2 

Total  Third  Brigade  

3 

12 

i 
4 

66 

82 

Total  Third  Division  

3 

25 

1  06 

I38 

ARTILLERY  : 
A  1st  U    S                          

4 

5 
5 
i 

3 

2 

3 

9 

5 

2 

4 

2 

3 

F  ist  U   S  

I 

i 

1  8th  New  York  Battery 

ist  Indiana  Heavy  

Total  Artillery  

5 

I 

19 

25 

1st  Louisiana  Cavalry             

3 

3 

Total  .  . 

3 

37 

8 

176 

224 

466 


THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 


IRISH    BEND. 

April  14,  1863. 


COMMAND. 

Killed. 

Wou 

e 

s 
& 

o 

nded.        Captured  or  \ 
missing. 

Officers. 

Enlisted 
men. 

Enlisted 
men. 

Officers. 

Enlisted 
men. 

Aggregate. 

FOURTH  DIVISION  : 

Brigadier-General   CUVIER  GRO- 

VER. 
FIRST  BRIGADE  : 

Brigadier  -  General    WILLIAM 
DWIGHT. 
6th  New  York  

gist  New  York  

2 

I 

10 

3 

i 

13 

3 

i 

I3ist  New  York  

22d  Maine  

1st  Louisiana  

Total  First  Brigade.  . 

2 

1 

14 

17 

THIRD  BRIGADE  : 

Colonel  HENRY  W.  BIRGE. 
25th.  Connecticut 

2 

7 
ii 

15 
7_ 
40 

5 

5 
4 

72 
48 
73 
43 

IO 

96 
61 
117 

54 

26th  Maine  

iSgth  New  York  

4 

2O 

1  3th  Connecticut  

Total  Third  Brigade  

6 

16 

236 



30 

328 

ARTILLERY  : 

Battery  C  2d  U.  S  

i                                1           i 

i  l  !  s 

Total  

6~ 

43  |     17 

257 

30      353 

PLAINS    STORE. 

May  21,  1863. 


COMMAND. 

Killed. 

Wounded. 

Captured  or 
missing. 

V 

rt 

< 

e 

T!  • 

• 

•8    : 

j 

Enlisted 
men. 

i 

0 

fa 

w 

1 

^e 

M 

2 

I 

I 

I 

II 
3 
7 
4 
43 
68 

j 

14 

4 

20 

6 
56 

3Oth  Massachusetts       .  . 

48th  Massachusetts  

2 



II 

I 
I 

4gth  Massachusetts  

Ii6th  New  York  

II 

Total  .  . 

15 

S 

14 

100 

APPENDIX. 
PORT   HUDSON. 

May  23-July  8,  1863. 


467 


NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS  : 

Major-General     NATHANIEL     P. 
BANKS. 

Killed. 

Wounded. 

Captured  or 
missing. 

0 

«a- 
II 

"c  fc 
w 

j/j 

Is 
fa 

w 

i 
i 

0 

*O 

S  a 

|l 

W 

g 

1 
1 

FIRST  DIVISION  : 

Major-General  CHRISTOPHER  C. 

AUGUR. 

FIRST  BRIGADE  : 
Colonel  EDWARD  P.  CHAPIN.1 
Colonel  CHARLES  J.  PAINE. 

2d  Louisiana  

32 
14 

8 

17 
18 

5 
3 
7 

10 

4 

103 
60 
46 

73 

IOI 

4 
9 

144 

88 
62 

IO2 
130 

2ist  Maine             .    . 

I 
I 
I 
2 

I 

48th  Massachusetts  

4gth  Massachusetts  

i 

5 

1  1  6th  New  York 

Total  First  Brigade 

5 

89  '     29 

383 

I 

19 

526 

SECOND  BRIGADE  : 

Brigadier-General     GODFREY 
WEITZEL. 

Staff  

I 
IOI 
107 

73 
41 
1  66 

18 

10 

10 

2 
24 

5 
4 
4 
4 
4 

78 
88 
56 
35 
128 

75th  New  York  

I 

4 

2 

I  I4th  New  York  

I 

i6oth  New  York  

8th  Vermont  

I 

9 

Total  Second  Brigade  

3 

64 

21 

385 

I 

15 

489 

THIRD  BRIGADE  : 

Colonel  NATHAN  A.  M.  DUDLEY. 
3Oth  Massachusetts  

I 
I 

18 
4 
14 
9 

19 
5 
i? 
14 

5Oth  Massachusetts  





i6ist  New  York  

3 

2 

3 
3 

Total  Third  Brigade  

5 

2 

45 

55 

ARTILLERY  : 
1st  Indiana  Heavy  

4 
i 

I 

IO 

19 
i 

7 

22 
20 
I 

3 
19 
4 
69 

1st  Maine  Battery  

6th  Massachusetts  Battery  

1  8th  New  York  Battery  

3 

12 
2 

47 

Battery  A  1st  U.  S  

3 

2 
IO 

I 
2 



3 

Battery  G  $th  U.  S  

Total  Artillery  





IO 

Total  First  Division  

8 

168 

54 

860 

2  i     47 

H39 

1  Killed  M 


468 


THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 


COMMAND. 

Killed. 

Wounded. 

Captured  or 
missing. 

j 

li 

w 

Officers. 

Enlisted 
men. 

Officers. 

Enlisted 
men. 

d 

rt 

I 

< 

2 

I76 
I49 

77 
129 

59 

SECOND  DIVISION  : 

Brigadier-General    THOMAS    W. 

SHERMAN.1 

Brigadier  -  General    WILLIAM 

D  WIGHT. 
Staff            

2 

I 





FIRST  BRIGADE  : 
Brigadier-General  NEAL  Dow.  l 
Colonel  DAVID  S.  COWLES.* 
Colonel  THOMAS  S.  CLARK. 

Staff 

I 
I 

14 
19 
17 

21 

5 

9 
5 
3 
3 
3_ 
24 

151 
124 

55 
97 
47 

I 

I 

2 

5 
3_ 
ii 

1  28th  New  York  

2 
I 

i62d  New  York  

Total  First  Brigade  

5 

76 

474 

I 

591 

THIRD  BRIGADE  : 

Brigadier-General       FRANK      S. 
NICKERSON. 

5 

5 

23 
13 
8 
80 
38 
i? 

33 
13 

12 

106 

5i 
23 

28th  Maine 

3 
15 
5 
3 

i 
7 
5 

2 

3 

2 

i65th  New  York 

i 
i 

i 

1  75th  New  York       

1  77th  New  York  

Total  Third  Brigade  
ARTILLERY  : 
1st  Vermont  Battery  

3 

3i 

20 

179 

5 

238 

i 

6 

7 

Total  Second  Division  

8 

108 

46 

659 

I 

16 

838 

THIRD  DIVISION  : 

Brigadier-General    HALBERT   E. 

PAINE.5 

Colonel  HAWKES  FEARING,  Jr. 
Stiff 

I 

i 

62 
68 
37 
168 

FIRST   BRIGADE  : 

Colonel  SAMUEL  P.  FERRIS. 
28th  Connecticut  

2 
I 
I 

5 
7 
4 

I 

3 

2 

___ 

43 
57 

21 

, 

10 

i  loth  New  York  

I 

9 

Total  First  Brigade  

4 

16 

121 

19 

Wounded  May  ^th. 


•  Wounded  June 


•  Killed  May  *ith. 


APPENDIX. 


469 


COMMAND. 

Killed. 

Wounded.       Captured  or 
missing. 

jj 

1 

Enlisted 
men. 

i 

JL 

7 
5 
6 

9 

Enlisted 
men. 

Officers. 

Enlisted 
men. 

d 

I 

1 

SECOND    BRIGADE  : 

Colonel  HAWKES  FEARING,  Jr., 
Major  JOHN  H.  ALLCOT. 

4 
i 

2 

3 

26 
22 
II 
46 

191 

85 
72 

108 
456 

2 

28 
2 

I 
52 

258 

H5 
92 
2I9 

4th  Wisconsin  l  

I 

IO 

105 

27 

3 

83 

684 

THIRD  BRIGADE  : 

Colonel  OLIVER  P.  GOODING. 

2 
2 

13 
13 
15 

3_ 
44 

2 

5 
7 

2 

~I6~ 

47 
85 
92 

25 

62 

108 

121 

30 
321 



3 

5 

i  ^6th  New  York                       

4 

249 

8 

ARTILLERY  : 

2 

2 

3 

2 

i 

2 

2d  Vermont  Battery           

2 

Total  Third  Division  

18 

166 

50 

830 

4 

112 

1180 

FOURTH    DIVISION  : 

Brigadier  -  General      C  u  v  I  E  R 
GROVER. 

FIRST  BRIGADE  : 
Brigadier  -  General    WILLIAM 
D  WIGHT. 

Colonel  JOSEPH  S.  MORGAN 

i 

30 
4 
7 
19 
20 

3 

2 
I 

8 

2 

86 
17 
42 

112 

86 

3 

5 

123 
29 
50 
149 
119 

1 

2 

I 

2 

8 

8 

Total  First  Brigade  

4        80 

i 

16 

343 

3 

24 

470 

SECOND  BRIGADE  : 

Colonel  WILLIAM  K.  KIMBALL. 

H 

IO 

8 

•32 

6 

2 
2 

46 

57 

12 

66 
70 
24 

1  2th  Maine                                •        •  • 



i 

2 

52d  Massachusetts            

Total  Second  Brigade.  . 



IO 

ii«; 

1    :    160 

1  Includes  losses  at  Clinton^  June 


470 


THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 


COMMAND. 

Killed.            Wounded. 

Captured  or 
missing. 

Officers. 

Enlisted 
men. 

Officers. 

1  - 

I1 

20 

35 
ii 

53 

O 

"8  . 
.a  S 

"5  6 
W 

Aggregate. 

THIRD  BRIGADE  : 

Colonel  HENRY  W.  BIRGE. 
1  3th  Connecticut  

I 

6 

5 
5 
17 

3 
4 

I 
I 

I 
2 

5 

2 

31 
46 
22 

73 
172 

25th  Connecticut      ... 

26th  Maine  

1  5  gth  New  York 

Total  Third  Brigade  

I 

33 

9 

119 



10 

ARTILLERY  : 
2d  Massachusetts  Battery  

2 
2 
I 



3 

5 
2 
I 

Battery  L  ist  U    S 

Battery  C  2d  U.  S  

Total  Artillery  



5 

3 

8 

Total  Fourth  Division  

5 

145 

537 

35 

582 

3 

40 
215 

810 
3,967 

Total  Nineteenth  Army  Corps 
CAVALRY  : 

Colonel  BENJAMIN  H.  GRIERSON 
6th  Illinois  

39 

185 

2,931 

IO 

6 

4 
1  6 

5 
6 

i 

5 

13 
4 
40 

9 
28 

7th  Illinois  

1st  Louisiana  

5 

i 

2 



19 
20 

3d  Massachusetts  

i 

1  4th  New  York  



Total  Cavalry  

i 

9 

37 

i  ^     46 

94 

CORPS  D'AFRIQUE  : 

i 

2 
I 

7 
32 

9 
i 

2 

5 

2 

4 

26 
92 

37 
i 

19 

53 
129 

5i 

2 

5 

12 
2 
10 

ist  Louisiana  Native  Guards  

3 

i 

3d  Louisiana  Native  Guards  . 

i 

2 

6th  Infantry  

yth  Infantry  , 

i 

3 

5 

8th  Infantry  

I 

Qth  Infantry  

loth  Infantry  

I 



2 

3 

Total  Corps  d'Afrique  . 

5 

62 

5 

1  66 

i 

25 

264 

2d  Rhode  Island  Cavalry..  . 

i 
191 

5 



2 

8 

Total  Port  Hudson  

45 

658 

3,139 

12 

288 

4,333 

APPENDIX. 


COX'S    PLANTATION,    OR    KOCH'S    PLANTATION,    BAYOU    LA 
FOURCHE,    July    13,    1863. 


COMMAND. 

Killed.          Wounded. 

Captured  or 
missing. 

e 

lg 

fi 

|| 

1 

Enlisted 
men. 

Aggregate. 

§ 

aS 
W 

e 

o 

cS 
M 

FIRST  DIVISION  : 

Brigadier  -  General    GODFREY 
WEITZEL. 

FIRST  BRIGADE  : 

Colonel  CHARLES  J.  PAINE. 
2d  Louisiana 

7 

5 

21 

18 

9 

20 

37 

44 

n6th  New  York  

i 

Total  First  Brigade 

i 

12 

39 

29 

81 

THIRD  BRIGADE  : 

Colonel  N.  A.  M.  DUDLEY. 
3Oth  Massachusetts  

8 
7 
17 

2 

I 
I 

37 
33 
28 

I 

7 

7 

48 
53 
54 

i6ist  New  York             .           .... 

1  74th  New  York  

i 

Total  Third  Brigade           .... 

i 

32 

4 

103 

15 

155 

17 
i 

18 

ARTILLERY  : 

i          i 

14 
i 

i 

6th  Massachusetts            .      .    . 

Total  Artillery 

i 

i 

15 

i 

Total  First  Division 

2 

45 

£ 

157 



45 

254 

FOURTH  DIVISION  : 

Brigadier-General  CUVIER  GROVER 

FIRST   BRIGADE  : 

Colonel  JOSEPH  S.  MORGAN. 

3 

2 
2 

I 

14 
20 

10 

I 

13 

48 
42 

30 

7i 
55 

90th  New  York       .          

I3ist  New  York  

Total  Brigade  and  Division  .  .  . 

7 

I 

44 

I 

103 

156 

Total  Nineteenth  Army  Corps 

2 

52 

6 

2OI 

I 

148 

410 

472  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

SABINE   CROSS-ROADS,    April    8,    and    PLEASANT    HILL, 
April  9,  1864. 

Compiled  in  the  War  Department  from  the  nominal  returns  :  impossible  to  separate  the  losses. 

for  each  day. 


COMMAND. 

Killed.            Wounded. 

Captured  or  1 
missing. 

Officers. 

ii 

|S 

w 

Officers. 

Enlisted 
men. 

Officers. 

Id 
ffi 

w 

d 

rt 

I 

THIRTEENTH    ARMY   CORPS    (DE 
TACHMENT)  : 

Brigadier-General  THOMAS  E.  G. 

RANSOM,1 

Brigadier  -  General    ROBERT    A. 
CAMERON. 

Staff  

2 

2 

THIRD  DIVISION  : 

Brigadier  -  General    ROBERT    A. 
CAMERON  

I 

3 
3 

4 

21 

66 
9i 

126 

59 
186 

6 

166 

145 

317 

FIRST  BRIGADE. 

Lieutenant-Colonel    AARON    M. 
FLORY  l  

I 

12 
II 
23 

3 
6 

9 

SECOND  BRIGADE  : 

Colonel  WILLIAM  H.  RAYNOR.  . 

Total  Third  Division  

I 

7 

FOURTH  DIVISION  : 

Colonel  WILLIAM  J.  LANDRAM. 

FIRST  BRIGADE  : 

Colonel  FRANK  EMERSON.  %i  . 

I 
2 
I 

18 
5 
i 

4 
9 
i 

79 
50 

5 

28 

20 

2 

398 
438 

23 

528 
524 
33 

SECOND  BRIGADE  : 

Colonel  JOSEPH  W.  VANCE  9  
Artillery  

Total  Fourth  Division 

4 

24 

14 

134 

50 

859 

1,085 

Total  Thirteenth  Army  Corps 

NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS  : 
Major  -  General      WILLIAM     B. 

FRANKLIN.1 

Staff  

5 

47 

23 

225 

59 

1,045 

1,404 

3 

1  Wounded,  A  fir  tilth. 


Wounded  and  cafiturtd  April 


APPENDIX. 


473 


COMMAND. 

Killed. 

Wounded. 

Captured  or 
missing. 

O 

•o 

—  •  c 

(/)    V 

^S 

W 

Officers. 

Enlisted 
men. 

Officers. 

Id 

1  1 
H 

&  ' 

1 

<$ 

FIRST  DIVISION  : 

Brigadier-General    WILLIAM    H. 
EMORY. 
FIRST  BRIGADE  : 
Brigadier  -  General      WILLIAM 
DWIGHT,  Jr. 

I 

3 

2 
I 

8 

3 
2 

4 

26 
10 
27 

28 
39 

27 
20 

34 

33 
90 

H4th  New  York  



4 

3 
4 

38 

n6th  New  York 

1  53d  New  York  *              

loist  New  York  

I 

Total  First  Brigade  ... 

I 

15 

9 

130 

49 

204 

SECOND  BRIGADE  : 

Brigadier  -  General    JAMES   W. 
MCMILLAN. 

I3th  Maine 

5 
i 
6 
6 

i 

3 
4 

29 

13 
23 
34 

20 
ii 
9 

55 
28 

44 
41 



2 

I 

3 

18 

8 

99 

40 

168 

THIRD  BRIGADE  : 

Colonel  LEWIS  BENEDICT,1 
Colonel  FRANCIS  FESSENDEN. 

3Oth  Maine 

i 
3 

10 

13 

3 

4 

30 

3 
3 
3 

i 

55 
45 

21 

38 

69 
46 
70 

155 

340 

138 
in 
97 

200 

i62d  New  York 

I 

i65th  New  York 

1  73d  New  York 

2 

Total  Third  Brigade 

4 

10 

159 

3 

546 

ARTILLERY. 

New  York  Lirfit   2<?th  Battery 

2 
2 

i 

3 
4 
i 

8 
396 

5 
7 
i 





4 

i 

13 

Total  First  Division 

3 

8 

67 

28 

429      931 

Total  Nineteenth  Army  Corps 

8 

67 

3i 

396 

3 

429 

934 

Killed*  April  gtk. 


474 


THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 


COMMAND. 

Killed. 

Wounded. 

Captured  or 
missing. 

j 

Enlisted 
men. 

Officers. 

Enlisted 
men. 

Officers. 

to  4> 

~  £ 

H 

Aggregate. 

CAVALRY  DIVISION  l  : 

Brigadier  -  General    ALBERT  L. 
LEE. 

FIRST  BRIGADE  : 
Colonel  THOMAS  J.  LUCAS. 

i6th  Indiana  (mounted  infantry).  .  . 

i 
i 

3 

2 

17 
ii 
10 
18 

32 
19 
3 
17 

55 
3i 
19 
42 

I 

4 

5 

i 

I4th  New  York  

2 

Total  First  Brigade  ... 

2 

8 

8 

56 

2 

7i 

147 

THIRD  BRIGADE  : 

Colonel  HARAI  ROBINSON.' 

4 
4 

2 

4 

13 
27 

2 

13 
15 

21 

49 

70 

1st  Louisiana  

I 

I 

Total  Third  Brigade 

8 

6 

40 

FOURTH  BRIGADE  : 

Colonel  NATHAN  A.  M.  DUDLEY. 
2d  Illinois 

2 

8 

3 

2 

i 

i 

i 

39 
51 

38 

22 
150 

3 
ii 

16 
31 

45 
7i 

58 
<tf 

3d  Massachusetts            .      .        ... 

3ist  Massachusetts  (mounted  infan- 
trv) 

8th  New  Hampshire  (mounted  in 
fantry)  

I 

I 

Total  Fourth  Brigade  



15 

~~3 

61 

230 

FIFTH  BRIGADE  : 

Colonel  OLIVER  P.  GOODING. 

l 
i 

5 

9 

i 

6 

14 

i 

21 

1  8th  New  York 

I 

I 

2 

3d  Rhode  Island  (detachment)  

Total  Fifth  Brigade      

I 

I 

2 

15 

2 

ARTILLERY  : 
2d  Massachusetts  Battery   

I 

4_ 

5 

2 
2 

16 
13 
29 
290 

I 

20 

_JL7 
37 

5th  United  States   Battery  G  

Total  Artillery  





I 

Total  Cavalry  Division  
Grand  total 

3 

37 

21 

4 

150 

505 

16 

151 

76 

qil 

66 

1,624 

2,843 

Losses  at  Wilson's  Plantation,  Afriljtk,  also  included. 


APPENDIX,  475 

SPECIAL  FIELD  RETURN  AFTER  SABINE  CROSS-ROADS. 


TROOPS. 

Killed. 

Wounded. 

Missing. 

"3 

o 

H 

Effective  strength 
next  day. 

Officers. 

g 

Officers. 

a 

V 

£ 

Officers. 

a 
B 

Officers. 

d 

V 

% 

"i 

£ 

NINETEENTH       ARMY 
CORPS  : 
First     Division    (in 
fantry) 

2 

22 

IO 

138 

I 

174 

347 

243 

31 
9 

4,910 

605 
348 

5>I53 

636 
357 

1  53d  New  York  Vol 
unteers    (guard- 

First  Division  (artil- 

L^i-y  f*  ... 

THIRTEENTH       ARMY 
CORPS        (detach 
ment)  : 
General  and  staff 

I 

I 

2 

315 

Third  Division  : 
Infantry     

I 

23 

6 

78 

9 

198 

77 

2 

i,475 
173 

i,552 
^75 

Artillery    

Fourth  Division  : 
Commanding    offi 
cer  and  escort.  . 
Infantry 

i 

I 
I.IOI 

33 
3 

2 

23 

6 

i 

•2 

82 

5 

59 
3 

929 
24 

56 

5 

1,418 
204 

i,474 
209 

Artillery      .      ... 

STAFF   OF  THE   MAJOR- 
GENERAL           COM 
MANDING  

Aggregate  .  .  . 

9,556 

6 

68 

27 

304 

72 

1,325 

1,802 

423 

9,133 

SPECIAL  FIELD  RETURN  AFTER  PLEASANT  HILL. 


FIRST     DIVISION, 
NINETEENTH  ARMY 
CORPS. 

Killed. 

Wounded. 

Missing. 

"rt 
O 

H 

Effective  strength 
next  day. 

Officers. 

i 

x 

Officers. 

c 

V 

% 

Officers. 

c 
u 

% 

Officers. 

1 

1 

Infantry  

6 

43 
4 

18 

I 

261 

14 

3 

369 

5 

689 

25 

243 

8 

4,802 
33i 

5,045 
339 

5,384 

Artillery 

Aggregate  . 

6 

47 

19 

275 

4 

374 

714 

251 

5,133 

476 


THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 


PARTIAL  RETURN  OF  LOSSES  AT  CANE  RIVER  CROSSING. 

April  23,  1864. 


THIRD  BRIGADE,  IST  DIVISION  : 
Colonel  FRANCIS  FESSENDEN. 
Lieutenant-Colonel  J.  W.  BLAN- 

CHARD 

Killed. 

Wounded. 

Missing. 

"rt 
o 
H 

Officers. 

d 
B 

Officers. 

d 

V 

Officers. 

d 

u 

2 

i62d  New  York  

I 

3 

I 

26 

3 
25 
64 

1 

I 
I 

I 

7 

32 

4 
31 

86 

i6sth  New  York  

1  73d  New  York 

3 
ii 

2 

2 

3Oth  Alaine  ,            .          ... 

2 

3 

Total  

17 

5 

118 



10 

153 

THE  OPEQUON, 
September  19,   1864. 


NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 
Brevet   Major-General   WTILLIAM 
H.  EMORY. 

Killed. 

Wounded. 

Captured  or 
missing. 

Officers. 

Enlisted 
men. 

Officers. 

Enlisted 
men. 

Officers. 

Id 

IS 

W 

Aggregate. 

FIRST   DIVISION  : 

Brigadier  -  General          WILLIAM 
DWIGHT. 

FIRST  BRIGADE  : 

Colonel  GEORGE  L.  BEAL. 

I 

"i 

4 

23 
17 
156 

39 

55 

24 
22 

185 
48 
69 

3Oth  Massachusetts 

I 
I 

4 

20 

9 

10 

I  I4th  New  York  

1  1  6th  New  York 

1  53d  New  York 

Total  First  Brigade  

2 

43 

13 

290 

348 

SECOND  BRIGADE  : 

Brigadier  -  General     JAMES    W. 

MCMILLAN. 

1  2th  Connecticut  

3 

2 

7 
13 

i 

9 

to  to  •  • 

57 
58 
8 
28 



I 
I 

71 
77 
9 

37 

i6oth  New  York1  

47th  Pennsylvania 

Total  Second  Brigade  

2 

5 

30 

6 

I5i 

194 

Total  First  Division8  

7 

73 

19 

441 

2 

542 

1  Noitr-veterans  ofyoth  New  York,  attacked.       *  The  Third  Brigade  guarding  trains. 


APPENDIX. 


477 


COMMAND. 

Killed. 

Wounded. 

Captured  or 
missing. 

i 
is 
o 

i1 

£ 

8 

a 

T3 

\i 

la 

w 

B 

8 

i 

o 

IS  ^ 
H 

tj 

< 

SECOND  DIVISION  : 

Brigadier  -  General            CUVIER 
GROVER. 

FIRST  BRIGADE  : 
Brigadier-General     HENRY     W. 
BIRGE. 
9th  Connecticut  

I 

I 

112 
62 

139 

I38 

73 

1  2th  Maine     .  .  • 

2 
I 

12 

6 
38 
27 
17 

6 
6 
n 
9 
4 

77 
46 
69 
79 
4i 



15 
3 
J9 

!9 
10 

14th.  Maine.  .      .  .     .  .        

26th  Masachusetts  

2 
I 

I4th  New  Hampshire  

4 

75th  New  York               .  . 

Total  First  Brigade  

7 

100 

36 

313 

3 

66 

525 

SECOND  BRIGADE  : 

Colonel  EDWARD  L.  MOLINEUX. 
I3th  Connecticut  

6 
7 
9 

17 
9 

5 

2 

3 

3 
9 
4 

39 
56 
60 

84 
56 
46 

2 
I 

30 
3 
3i 

77 
70 
105 

106 
74 

75 

nth  Indiana     

i 

2 
2 

22d  Iowa 

3d      Masachusetts      Cavalry    (dis 
mounted)     

I3ist  New  York  ,  .  .  . 

i  Sgth  New  York  

I 

19 

Total  Second  Brigade  

THIRD  BRIGADE  : 

Colonel  JACOB  SHARPED 
Lieutenant  -  Colonel        ALFRED 
NEAFIE. 
38th  Massachusetts  

5 

53 

21 

34i 

4 

83 

507 

8 
6 
20 
5 

3 
5 
3 
3 

44 
46 

88 
30 

8 

63 
57 
in 

47 

I28th  New  York  

1  5  6th  New  York  

I7oth  New  York  

9 

Total  Third  Brigade  

39 

14 

208 

17 

278 

FOURTH  BRIGADE  : 

Colonel  DAVID  SHUNK. 
8th   Indiana 

2 

5 
9 
9 

i 

4 
8 

5 
3i 

53 
48 



2 

9 

38 

75 
87 

i8th  Indiana 

i 

i 
i 

24th  Iowa  

8 

21 

28th  Iowa 

Total  Fourth  Brigade  

3 

25 

13 

137 

|     31 

209 

1  Wounded. 


478 


THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 


COMMAND. 

Killed. 

Wounded. 

Captured  or 
missing. 

Officers. 

Enlisted 
men. 

Officers. 

Enlisted 
men. 

Officers. 

Enlisted 
men. 

£ 

'rt 

s? 

ARTILLERY  : 

ist  Maine  Battery  

2 

I 

5_ 
1,004 

8 
1,527 

Total  Second  Division.. 

15 

2I9 

85 

7 

197 

RESERVE  ARTILLERY  : 

Captain  ELIJAH  D.  TAFT. 
1  7th  Indiana  Battery  

i 
4 

Battery  D  ist  Rhode  Island  

4 

Total  Reserve  Artillery  

5_ 
1,450 

5 

Total  Nineteenth  Army  Corps 

22 

292 

104 

7 

I99 

2,074 

FISHER'S  HILL. 
September  22,  1864.' 


NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS  : 
Brevet-Major  General   WILLIAM 
H.  EMORY. 

Killed. 

Wounded. 

Captured  or 
missing. 

Aggregate. 

Officers. 

Enlisted 
men. 

O 

Enlisted 
men. 

Officers. 

Enlisted 
men. 

FIRST  DIVISION  : 

Brigadier  -  General        WILLIAM 
DWIGHT. 

FIRST  BRIGADE  : 

Colonel  GEORGE  L.  BEAL. 
29th  Maine  

I 

3 
6 

4 
9 

3Oth  Massachusetts  

3 

H4th  New  York  

n6th  New  York  

I 

9 

.    3 

21 

10 
3 

I53d  New  York  

Total  First  Brigade  





4 

I 

26 

SECOND  BRIGADE  : 

Brigadier-General      JAMES      W. 

MCMILLAN. 

I2th  Connecticut  

i6oth  New  York  *  

47th  Pennsvlvania  

2 

3 

i 
4 

8th  Vermont  

1 

I 





Total  Second  Brigade  

I 

5 

6 

1  Including  casualties  incurred  ov  the  list.     *  Non-veterans  of  gotA  New   York  attachtd. 


APPENDIX. 


479 


COMMAND. 

Killed. 

Wounded. 

Captured  or 
missing. 

0 

Enlisted 
men. 

Officers. 

Enlisted 
men. 

Officers. 

Enlisted 
men. 

Aggregate. 

ARTILLERY  : 

5th  New  York  Battery 

I 

I 
33 

Total  First  Division  l 

2 

:..:. 

4 

27 

SECOND  DIVISION  : 
Brigadier  -  General            CUVIER 
GROVER. 
FIRST  BRIGADE  : 
Brigadier-General      HENRY     W. 
BIRGE. 
oth  Connecticut     .  .  .  .  .        .  .  .  .    . 

3 

10 

13 

1  2th  Maine  

26th  Massachusetts  

lAth  New  Hampshire 

I 

I 

2 

75th  New  York  

Total  First  Brigade  

— 



I 

~I5 

•i 

II 

SECOND  BRIGADE  : 

Colonel  EDWARD  L.  MOLINEUX. 
I3th  Connecticut 

2 

8 
4 

i 
i 

2 

IO 

4 

3 
I 

2 



3d     Massachusetts     Cavalry    (dis- 

2 

I3ist  New  York  

I  SQth  New  York  

Total  Second  Brigade  

• 

4 

16 

—  

20 

THIRD  BRIGADE  : 

Colonel  DANIEL  MACAULEY. 
38th  Massachusetts  

i 

2 

2 

6 
4 

3 
20 

4 

12 

1  5  6th  New  York 

1  76th  New  York  

I 

z 

2 

Total  Third  Brigade  

4 

13 

12 

29 

FOURTH  BRIGADE  : 

Colonel  DAVID  SHUNK. 

I 

4 

4 
5 

I 

6 

5 
5 

1  8th  Indiana 

2 

I 

24th  Iowa  

28th  Iowa  

Total  Fourth  Brigade  

3 

14 

i? 

ARTILLERY  : 

Maine  Light,  1st  Battery  (A)  

Total  Second  Division  

ii 

3^ 

54 

13 

81 

Tkird  Brigade  guarding  trains. 


480 


THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 


COMMAND. 

Killed. 

Wounded. 

Captured  or 
missing. 

Officers. 

Enlisted 
men. 

Officers. 

•s  • 

t 

H  • 

• 

rt 

ll 

W 

J 

0 

'-52 

M 

M 

to 

< 

RESERVE  ARTILLERY  : 

Captain  ELIJAH  D.  TAFT. 
1  7th  Indiana  Battery  

Battery  D  ist  Rhode  Island  

Total  Nineteenth  Armv  Corus 



EC 

C 

8r 

M 

114. 

CEDAR  CREEK. 
October  19,  1864. 


NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS  : 
Brevet-Major-General    WILLIAM 
H.  EMORY. 

Killed. 

Wounded. 

Captured  or 
missing. 

Officers. 

Enlisted 
men. 

g 

I 

O 

•5 

S  e 

</)    4) 

Ifl 

W 

| 

O 

Is 

*B   E 

H 

• 
< 

Corps  Staff 

2 

4 
5 
3 
6 

4 

7 

2 

127 
108 

73 
H5 

59 

Si 

FIRST  DIVISION  : 

Brigadier-General      JAMES      W. 

MCMILLAN. 

Brigadier  -  General        WILLIAM 
DWIGHT. 

FIRST  BRIGADE  : 

Colonel  EDWIN  P.  DAVIS. 
2oth  Maine 

I 
I 
2 

I 

17 
II 

3 
20 

8 
66 

105 
91 

43 
80 

39 
56 

414 

3Oth  Massachussetts     

goth  New  York  

I 

22 

7 
9 
10 

1  1  4th  New  York 

I  loth  New  York     .  .      .               ... 

1  53d  New  York 

Total  First  Brigade  

5 

I 

29 

48 

563 

SECOND  BRIGADE  : 

Colonel  STEPHEN  THOMAS. 
Brigadier-General     JAMES      W. 

MCMILLAN. 
1  2th  Connecticut  

2 

20 

9 
36 
16 

5 
3 
i 
ii 

52 
3i 

88 

55 

93 
23 

28 

23 

172 
66 
154 
1  06 

i6oth  New  York 



47th  Pennsylvania 

I 

I 

8th  Vermont  

Total  Second  Brigade  
Total  First  Division  ' 



4 

81 

20 

226 

167 

498 

9 

147 

49 

640 

I 

215 

i,o6r 

1  Third  Brigade  guarding  trains. 


APPENDIX. 


481 


Killed. 

Wounded. 

Captured  or 

COMMAND. 

, 

•s  . 

2 

1 

i 

t   . 

y 

E 

B 

.28 

.8  g 

| 

|| 

g 

m 

"5  S 

•j 

c  g 

| 

•3  6 

M 

o 

W 

O 

W 

o 

W 

1 

SECOND  DIVISION  : 

Brigadier  -  General            CUVIER 
GROVER.1 

Brigadier-General     HENRY     W. 

BlRGE. 

Cfaff 

I 



I 

FIRST  BRIGADE  : 

Brigadier-General     HENRY     W. 

BlRGE. 

Colonel  THOMAS  W.  PORTER. 

2 

6 

2 

3 

13 

20 

I 
I 

7 
50 

25 

81 

i 

i 

4. 



34 

I 

42 

82 

3 

2 

8 

16 

29 

:::::    i    \ 

48          i        17 

77 

7<th  Ne\v  York  

!         3 

I 

18 

33 

55 

Total  First  Brigade  

2 

26 

j  i 

~I4J 

4 

165 

349 

1-  

SECOND  BRIGADE  : 

Colonel  EDWARD  L.  MOLINEUX. 

2 

4 

i 

6 

2 
2 

i 

4 
6 

2 
I 
I 

16 

35 
43 

29 

21 
12 

2 

10 
10 

21 

39 
9 
6 

29 

53 
73 

76 
33 
23 

3d     Massachusetts      Cavalry     (dis- 

i  zqth  New  York  

2 

Total  Second  Brigade  

2 

17 

15 

I56 

2 

95 

287 

THIRD  BRIGADE  : 

Colonel  DANIEL  MACAULEY.' 
Lieutenant  -  Colonel         ALFRED 
NEAFIE. 

Cfoff 

I 
I 

5 

i 

54 
95 
92 

3 
53_ 
298 

Mart  •  

18 
14 

3i 

2 
II 

2 

35 
74 
48 

5 
7 
i 

I 

iy6th  New  York   
Total  Third  Brigade  

I 

5 

4 

I 

3i 

2 

18 

ii 

76 

3 

188 

FOURTH  BRIGADE  : 

Colonel  DAVID  SHUNK. 

2 

2 

8 
8 

6 
6 

2 

33 
43 
37 
69 

4 
~4 

21 

27 

41 
10 

66 
Si 
92 
9° 

28th  Iowa    

I 

Total  Fourth  Brigade  

3 

23 

18  '  182 

99 

329 

1  Wounded. 


482 


NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 


COMMAND. 

Killed. 

Wounded.        Captured  or  I 
missing. 

Officers. 

1 
Id 

11 
M 

Officers. 

tj 

|1 
M 

o 

Enlisted 
men. 

io  \  to  Aggregate. 

O  I  oo 
to  ' 

ARTILLERY  : 

1st  Maine  Battery  

I 
10 

2 

86 

I 

57 

16 

57i 

8 
555 

Total  Second  Division  
RESERVE  ARTILLERY  ; 

Major  ALBERT  W.  BRADBURY. 
1  7th  Indiana  Battery.  . 

13 

5 

i 

8 
8 

3 
6 

16 
12 

Battery  D  ist  Rhode  Island  

Total  Reserve  Artillery  .... 
Total  Nineteenth  Army  Corps 



1 

5 

i 

16 
1,227 

28 

19 

238 

109 

14 

776 

2,383 

OFFICERS  KILLED  OR  MORTALLY  WOUNDED. 

BATON    ROUGE. 

August  5,  1862. 

Brigadier-General  THOMAS  WILLIAMS 
Lieutenant  MATTHEW  A.  LATHAM  2ist  Indiana 

Lieutenant  CHARLES  D.  SEELY 
Captain  EUGENE  KELTY  3Oth  Massachusetts 

GEORGIA  LANDING. 

October  27,  1862. 

Captain  JOHN  KELLEHER  8th  New  Hampshire 

Captain  Q.  A.  WARREN 

BISLAND. 
April  12-13,  1863. 

Captain  SAMUEL  GAULT  38th  Massachusetts 

Lieutenant  GEORGE  G.  NUTTING  53d  Massachusetts 

Lieutenant  JOHN  T.  FREER  i56th  New  York 

IRISH  BEND. 

April  14,  1863 

Captain  SAMUEL  S.  HAYDEN  25th  Connecticut 

Lieutenant  DANIEL  P.  DEWEY 

Lieutenant-Colonel  GILBERT  A.  DRAPER  I59*h  New  York 

Lieutenant  ROBERT  D.  LATHROP 
Lieutenant  BYRON  F.  LOCKWOOD 
Lieutenan  JOHN  W.  MANLEY 

PLAINS    STORE. 

May  21,  1863. 
Lieutenant  CHARLES  BORUSKY  n6th  New  York 

PORT  HUDSON. 

May    23-July  8,    1863. 

Captain  JOHN  B.  HUBBARD,1  Assistant  Adjutant-General 
Lieutenant  JOSEPH  STRICKLAND  2  i3th  Connecticut 

1  In  the  Assault  of  May  ^th.  *  In  the  Assault  of  June  14*6. 

4S3 


484 


THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 


Captain  JEDEDIAH  RANDALL  ' 
Captain  JOHN  L.  STANTON  l 
Lieutenant  HARVEY  F.  JACOBS  * 
Lieutenant  MARTIN  R.  KENYON  l 
Captain  DAVID  D.  HOAG  9 
Lieutenant  CHARLES  DURAND  * 
Colonel  RICHARD  E.  HOLCOMB* 
Lieutenant  MARTIN  V.  B.  HILL 
Lieutenant  JAMES  E.  COBURN 
Lieutenant  J.  B.  BUTLER 
Captain  ANDREW  CAILLOUX  ] 
Lieutenant  JOHN  H.  CROWDER  ' 
Major  ADAM  HAFFKILLE 
Lieutenant  JOHN  C.  FULTON  l 
Lieutenant  CHARLES  L.  STEVENS 
Lieutenant  AARON  W.  WALLACE  } 
Captain  HENRY  CROSBY 
Lieutenant  SOLON  A.  PERKINS  3 
Captain  WILLIAM  H.  BARTLETT  2 
Lieutenant-Colonel  WILLIAM  L.  RODMAN, 
Lieutenant  FREDERICK  HOLMES  2 
Lieutenant-Colonel  JAMES  O'BRIEN  ' 
Lieutenant  JAMES  McGiNNis 
Lieutenant  BURTON  D.  DEMING  ' 
Lieutenant  ISAAC  E.  JUDD  l 
Captain  GEORGE  S,  BLISS  2 
Captain  GEORGE  H.  BAILEY  ] 
Captain  JEROME  K.  TAFT2 
Lieutenant  ALFRED  R.  GLOVER  2 
Lieutenant  JOSIAH  H.  VOSE 
Lieutenant  FREDERICK  J.  CLARK  ' 
Lieutenant-Colonel  OLIVER  W.  LULL  ' 
Lieutenant  LUTHER  T.  HOSLEY  2 
Lieutenant  GEORGE  W.  THOMPSON  ' 
Lieutenant  JOSEPH  WALLIS  2 
Major  GEORGE  W.  STACKHOUSE  ' 
Captain  HENRY  S.  HULBERT  2 
Lieutenant  SYLVESTER  B.  SHEPARD 
Lieutenant  VALOROUS  RANDALL  2 
Colonel  ELISHA  B.  SMITH  2 
Captain  CHARLES  E.  TUCKER  2 
Colonel  EDWARD  P.  CHAPIN  J 
Lieutenant  DAVID  JONES 
Lieutenant  TIMOTHY  J.  LINAHAN  2 
Colonel  DAVID  S.  COWLES  ' 
Lieutenant  CHARLES  L.  VAN  SLYCK  ! 


26th  Connecticut 


28th  Connecticut 


ist  Louisiana 

zd  Louisiana 

ist  Engineers,  Corps  d'Afrique 

ist  Louisiana  Native  Guards 

3d  Louisiana  Native  Guards 
I4th  Maine 

2  ist  Maine 
22d  Maine 

3d  Massachusetts  Cavalry 
4th  Massachusetts 
1  38th  Massachusetts 

48th  Massachusetts 
4Qth  Massachusetts 

52d  Massachusetts 
53d  Massachusetts 


6th  Michigan 

8th  New  Hampshire 


gist  New  York 


noth  New  York 
H4th  New  York 

1 1 6th  New  York 


1 28th  New  York 


In  the  Assault  of  May  zjth.  2  In  the  Assault  of  June 

3  In  the  affair  at  Clinton,  June  jo1. 


APPENDIX.  485 

Lieutenant  NATHAN  O.  BENJAMIN  2  isist  New  York 

Lieutenant  BENJAMIN  F.  DENTON  2  issd  New  York 

Lieutenant-Colonel  THOMAS  FOWLER  is6th  New  York 

Major  JAMES  H.  BOGART  9  i62d  New  York 

Lieutenant  JOHN  NEVILLE 

Lieutenant  STEPHEN  C.  OAKLEY  ' 

Lieutenant-Colonel  ABEL  SMITH,  Jr.1  i6sth  New  York 

Lieutenant  CHARLES  R.  CARVILLE  J 

Major  A.  POWER  GALLWAY  I73d  New  York 

Captain  HENRY  COCHEU  2 

Lieutenant  SAMUEL  H.  PODGER 

Lieutenant  MORGAN  SHEA  2 

Colonel  MICHAEL  K.  BRYAN  2  175th  New  York 

Captain  HARMON  N.  MERRIMAN  '  177th  New  York 

Lieutenant  JAMES  WILLIAMSON  ' 

Lieutenant  STEPHEN  F.  SPALDING  5  8th  Vermont 

Colonel  SIDNEY  A.  BEAN  4th  Wisconsin 

Captain  LEVI  R.  BLAKE  3 

Lieutenant  EDWARD  A.  CLAPP  1 

Lieutenant  DANIEL  B.  MAXSON  s 

Lieutenant  GUSTAVUS  WINTERMEYERS 

Lieutenant  BENJAMIN  WADSWORTH       loth  U.  S.  Volunteers,  Corps  d'Afrique 


COX'S   (OR  KOCH'S)  PLANTATION. 

July  13,  1863. 

Captain  DAVID  W.  TUTTLE  n6th  New  York 

Lieutenant  DE  VAN  POSTLEY  i74th  New  York 

THE    RED    RIVER  CAMPAIGN. 
March  id-May  22,  1864. 

Lieutenant  Louis  MEISSNER  i3th  Connecticut. 

Lieutenant  CHARLES  C.  GROW  3oth  Maine 

Lieutenant  REUBEN  SEAVY 

Lieutenant  SUMNER  N.  STOUT 

Captain  JULIUS  N.  LATHROP  38th  Massachusetts 

Captain  CHARLES  R.  COTTON  i6oth  New  York,  April  gth 

Captain  WILLIAM  J.  VAN  DEUSBN 

Lieutenant  NICHOLAS  McDoNOUGH 

Lieutenant  LEWIS  E.  FITCH  i6ist  New  York,  April  8th 

Colonel  LEWIS  BENEDICT  i62d  New  York,  April  gth 

Captain  FRANK  T.  JOHNSON 

Lieutenant  MADISON  K.  FINLEY 

1  In  the  Assault  of  May  vith.  *  In  the  Assault  of  June  i^th. 

8  In  the  affair  of  'Clinton ,  June  -$d. 


486 


THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 


Lieutenant  WILLIAM  C.  HAWS 
Lieutenant  THEODORE  A.  SCUDDER 
Lieutenant-Colonel  WILLIAM  N.  GREEN,  Jr. 
Captain  HENRY  R.  LEE 
Lieutenant  ALFRED  P.  SWOYER 
Lieutenant  James  A.  SANDERSON 


i62d  New  York,  April  gth. 

1 73d  Infantry 

1 73d  New  York 

47th  Pennsylvania,  April  8th 

ist  United  States  Artillery 


THE  OPEQUON. 


September   19,    1864. 

Lieutenant-Colonel  FRANK  H.  PECK  1 2th  Connecticut 

Lieutenant  WILLIAM  S.  BULKLEY  " 

Lieutenant  GEORGE  W.  STEADMAN  "  " 

Lieutenant  WILLIAM  S.  MULLEN  nth  Indiana 

Captain  SILAS  A.  WADSWORTH  i8th  Indiana 

Captain  DAVID  J.  DAVIS  22d  Iowa 

Captain  BENJAMIN  D.  PARKS  " 

Lieutenant  JAMES  A.  BOARTS  "       " 

Captain  JOSEPH  R.  GOULD  24th  Iowa 

Lieutenant  SYLVESTER  S.  DILLMAN  "        " 

Captain  JOHN  E.  PALMER 

Captain  SCOTT  HOUSEWORTH  "        " 

Captain  DANIEL  M.  PHILLIPS  i2th  Maine 

Captain  SAMUEL  F.  THOMPSON  "        " 

Lieutenant  WILLIAM  JACKMAN  i4th  Maine 

Lieutenant  AJALON  GODWIN  " 

Major  WILLIAM  KNOWLTON 

Lieutenant  JASPER  F.  GLIDDEN 

Lieutenant  JOHN  F.  POOLE 

Major  EUSEBIUS  S.  CLARK 

Captain  ENOS  W.  THAYER 

Lieutenant  JOHN  P.  HALEY 

Colonel  ALEXANDER  GARDINER 

Captain  WILLIAM  H.  CHAFFIN 

Captain  WILLIAM  A.  FOSGATE 

Lieutenant  ARTEMUS  B.  COLBURN 

Lieutenant  JESSE  A.  FISK 

Lieutenant  HENRY  S.  PAUL 

Lieutenant  GEORGE  H.  STONE 

Lieutenant  MOULTON  S.  WEBSTER 

Lieutenant-Colonel  WILLOUGHBY  BABCOCK       75th  New  York 

Lieutenant  EDWIN  E.  BREED  H4th  New  York 

Captain  JACOB  C.  KLOCK  I53d  New  York 

Lieutenant  HERMAN  SMITH  159th  New  York 

Captain  Sir  N.  DEXTER  i6oth  New  York 

Lieutenant  B.  FRANK  MAXSON  "         " 


Maine 
3d  Massachusetts  Cavalry. 

26th  Massachusetts 

3Oth  Massachusetts 
I4th  New  Hampshire 


APPENDIX. 


487 


CEDAR  CREEK. 
October  19,  1864. 

Captain  JOHN  P.  LOWELL  i2th  Connecticut 
Lieutenant  GEORGE  M.  BENTON 
Lieutenant  HORACE  E.  PIIELPS 

Lieutenant-Colonel  ALEXANDER  J.  KENNY    8th  Indiana 
Captain  WILLIAM  D.  WATSON 
Lieutenant  GEORGE  W.  QUAY 

Lieutenant-Colonel  WILLIAM  S.  CHARLES      nth  Indiana 

Major  JONATHAN  H.  WILLIAMS  i8th  Indiana 

Lieutenant-Colonel  JOHN  Q.  WILDS  24th  Iowa 

Captain  JOHN  W.  RIEMENSCHNEIDER  28th  Iowa 

Lieutenant  JOHN  E.  MORTON  ist  Maine  Battery 

Lieutenant  HENRY  D.  WATSON  i2th  Maine 
Lieutenant-Colonel  CHARLES  S.  BICKMORE    I4th  Maine 

Lieutenant  JOHN  L.  HOYT  2gth  Maine 

Lieutenant  LYMAN  JAMES  3d    Massachusetts    Cavalry     (dis 
mounted) 

Lieutenant  ALBERT  L.  TILDEN  26th  Massachusetts 

Lieutenant  GEORGE  F.  WHITCOMB  3oth  Massachusetts 
Lieutenant  WILLIAM  F.  CLARK,  Jr. 

Major  JOHN  C.  SMART  goth  New  York 

Lieutenant  THADDEUS  C.  FERRIS  "      "         " 

Captain  DANIEL  C.  KNOWLTON  ii4th  New  York 

Lieutenant  ISAAC  BURCH  "        "         " 
Lieutenant  NORMAN  M.  LEWIS 

Lieutenant  WILLIAM  D.  THURBER  "        "         " 

Lieutenant  CHRISTOPHER  LARKIN  i56th  New  York 

Lieutenant  JOHANNES  LEFEVER  "        "         " 

Major  ROBERT  McD.  HART  i59th  New  York 

Captain  DUNCAN  RICHMOND  "       "         " 

Lieutenant  JULIUS  A.  JONES  iy6th  New  York 

Captain  EDWIN  G.  MINNICH  47th  Pennsylvania 

Captain  EDWARD  HALL  8th  Vermont 

Lieutenant  NATHAN  C.  CHENEY  "         " 

Lieutenant  AARON  K.  COOPER  "         " 

NOTE. — Unfortunately,  it  has  been  found  impossible  to  obtain  a  complete 
list  of  officers  who  fell  in  skirmishes  or  minor  affairs. 


PORT  HUDSON  FORLORN  HOPE. 

Officers   and  men  who  volunteered  for  the  storming   party  under  General 
Orders  No.  49,  Headquarters  Department  of  the  Gulf,  June  15,  1863  '  : 

Colonel  HENRY  W.  BIRGE,  I3th  Connecticut,  Commanding. - 

STAFF. 

Captain  DUNCAN  S.  WALKER,  Assistant  Adjutant-General.3 

Acting-Master  EDMOND  C.  WEEKS,  U.  S.  Navy,  A.  D.  C.2 

Captain  CHARLES  L.  NORTON,  25th  Connecticut.2 

Captain  JOHN  L.  SWIFT,  3d  Massachusetts  Cavalry.2 

First  Lieutenant  E.  H.  RUSSELL,  gth  Pennsylvania  Reserves,  Acting  Signal 

Officer. 

Assistant-Surgeon  GEORGE  CLARY,  i3th  Connecticut.2 
Lieutenant  JULIUS  H.  TIEMANN,  A.  A.  D.  C.,  isgth  New  York.2 

FIRST  BATTALION.4 

Lieutenant-Colonel  JOHN  B.  VAN  PETTEN,  i6oth  New  York. 
Captain  EDWARD  P.  HOLLISTER,  3ist  Massachusetts,  Senior  Major. 
Captain  SAMUEL  D.  HOVEY,  3ist  Massachusetts,  Junior  Major. 
Captain  ISAAC  W.  CASE,  22d  Maine,  Quartermaster. 

1  The  original  roll  of  the  storming  party  ivas  made  up  in  duplicate.    After  the  siege \  one 
copy  was  retained  by  General  Birge,  the  other  being  turned  in  to  the  Adjutant-General's 
Office,  Department  of  the  Gulf,  by  Captain,  afterward  Brevet  Brigadier-General  Duncan 
S.  Walker,  Assistant  Adjutant-General.      The  latter  copy  has  not  been  found  among  the 
documents  turned  over  to  the  War  Department  in   1865.     All Birge' s papers  and  records 
"were  captured  by  the  Confederates  and  among  them  his  copy  of  the  roll  was  lost.     In  1886, 
front  one  of  his  officers  he  obtained  a  book  containing  a  third  copy  of  the  roll,  described  by 
him  as  "  complete  and  perfect"  and  placed  it  in  the  hands  of  Captain  Charles  L.  Norton, 
v^th  Connecticut  (Colonel  z^th  Connecticut),  himself  one  of  the  stormers,  by  whom  the  vol 
ume  was  delivered  to   Colonel  D.  P.  Muzzey,  President,  and  Captain  C.  IV.   C.  Rhoades, 
Secretary,  of  the  Forlorn  Hope  Association.     The  list  here  printed  is  made  up  by  collating- 
-with  this  roll  the  detached  and  obviously  incomplete  memoranda  gathered  into  the  XXVItk 
volume  of 'the "  Official  Records"     So  many  mistakes  in  names  have  been  found  in  the 
certified copy  of  Birge 's  list  as  furnished  to  the  author,  that  others  are  likely  to  exist 
among  the  names  marked  [*],  that  could  not  be  compared  with  the  records.     For  example, 
it  is  found  that  Privates  F.  L.  Scampmouse  and  Levi  Scapmouse,  Company  C,  156/7%  New 
York  are  the  same  man  and,  Seven  Soepson,same  regiment,  is  Sven  Svenson. 

2  Not  on  the  roll  as  printed  in  Official  Records,  vol.  xxvi.,part  I.,pj>.  57-66. 
8  Not  on  Birge1  s  duplicate  roll. 

*   The  names  of  the  Battalion  Field  and  Staff  Officers  appear  again  under  their  proper 
regiments. 

488 


APPENDIX. 


489 


Captain  WILLIAM  SMITH,  2d  Louisiana,  A.  D.  C. 
Lieutenant  G.  A.  HARMOUNT,  I2th  Connecticut,  Adjutant. 
Surgeon  DAVID  IT.  ARMSTRONG,  i6oth  New  York. 

SECOND  BATTALION.1 

Lieutenant-Colonel  CHARLES  S.  BICKMORE,  i4th  Maine. 
Major  ALBION  K.  BOLAN,  i4th  Maine,  Major. 
Lieutenant  I.  FRANK  HOBBS,  izjth  Maine,  Adjutant. 
Lieutenant  EDWARD  MARRENER,  i74th  New  York,  Quartermaster. 

I2TH    CONNECTICUT. 


Company. 

Captain  LESTER  E.  BRALEY,  G 

Lieutenant  A.  DWIGHT  McCALL,  G 

STANTON  ALLYN,S  K 
GEORGE  A.  HARMOUNT 

(Adjutant), 

Private  CHARLES  J.  CONSTANTINE,  A 

Sergeant  JOHN  MULLEN,  B 

Private  CHARLES  DUBOISE,  B 

Corporal  JOHN  MOORE,  C 

Private  GEORGE  T.  DICKSON,  C 

"          WlLLOUGHBY  HULL,  C 

"       WILLIAM  PUTNAM,  C 

CHRISTOPHER  SPIES,  C 

GEORGE  W.  WATKINS,"  C 

"       JOHN  P.  WOODWARD,  C 

Sergeant  ALEXANDER  COHN,  D 

Corporal  GEORGE  SHAW,2  D 

"        JAMES  ROBERTSON,  Jr.,*  D 

Private  L.  P.  FARRELL,"  D 

"       GEORGE  KOHLER,  D 

REUBEN  MILES,  D 

' '       FREDERICK  C.  PAYNE,  D 

"       WILLIAM  P.  SMITH, 3  E 

EDWARD  L.  MILLERICK,*  E 

Sergeant  CHARLES  E.  MCGLAFLIN,  G 


Company. 

Sergeant  ANDREW  H.  DAVIDSON, 3  G 

Corporal  JOHN  T.  GORDON,  G 

Private  OLIVER  C.  ANDREWS,  G 

J.  E.  CHASE,-  G 

JAMES  DUNN,  G 

PATRICK  FITZPATRICK,  G 

PATRICK  FRANEY,  G 

WILLIAM  ToBiN,2  G 

JOSEPH  W.  WEEKS/2  G 

Sergeant  SOLOMON  E.  WHITING, 'J  H 

JOHN  W.  PHELPS,  H 

Corporal  JOSEPH  W.  CARTER,  H 

"        CHARLES  E.  SHERMAN/'  H 

Private  EDWIN  CONVERSE,  H 

HUGH  DONNALLY,'-  H 

"       WARREN  GAMMONS,  H 

JOSEPH  GRAHAM,2  H 

MILES  P.  HiGLEY,2  H 

"       WILLIAM  LENNING,  H 

THOMAS  McCuE,2  H 

"       MELVIN  NICHOLS,  H 

Corporal  DANIEL  B.  LooMis,'2  K 

Private  FRANCIS  BEAUMONT, '2  K 

A.   M.   PERKINS,'3  K 


I3TH    CONNECTICUT. 


Company. 

Captain  APOLLOS  COMSTOCK  (com 
manding  regiment), 
"       CHARLES  D.  BLINN,  C 

"       HOMER  B.  SPRAGUE,  H 

DENISON  H.  FINLEY,          G 


Company. 

Captain  CHARLES  J.  FULLER,  D 

Lieutenant  PERRY  AVERILL,  B 

FRANK  WELLS,  I 

CHARLES  E.  TIBBETS,  A 

WILLIAM  F.  NORMAN,  K 


1  The  names  of  the  Battalion  Field  and  Staff  Officers  appear  again  under  their  proper 
regiments. 

3  Not  on  the  roll  as  printed  in  Official  Records,  vol.  xxvi. ,  part  I.,  pp.  57-66. 
3  Not  on  Bir^s  duplicate  roll. 


490 


THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 


Company. 

Lieutenant  CHARLES  DANIELS,  K 

CHARLES  H.  BEATON,  E 

JOHN  C.  KINNEY,  A 

Louis  MEISNER,  I 

NEWTON  \V.  PERKINS,  C 

Louis  BECKWITH/  B 

Corporal  FRANCIS  J.  WOLF,  A 

"       CHRISTOPHER  FAGAN,  A 

"       ANDREW  BLACK,  A 

Private  WILLIAM  BISHOP,  A 

"       MICHAEL  CUNNINGHAM,'  A 

WALTER  EAGAN,  A 

JOHN  FAGAN,  A 

"       FRANCIS  J.  GAFFNAY,  A 

"       JAMES  GILBERT,1  A 

EDWARD  LANTRY,  A 

"       JOHN  McGuiRE,  A 

"       JOSEPH  MACK,  A 

"       JOHN  MARTINA  A 

HENRY  MORTON,  A 

LOREN  D.  PENFIELD,  A 

JOHN  O'KEEFE,1  A 

JOHN  QuiGLEY,1  A 

"       THOMAS  REILLY,'  A 

"       CHARLES  R.  ROWELL/  A 

"       JOHN  SMITH,'  A 

"       EDWARD  STONED  A 

Sergeant  GEORGE  E.  FANCHER,  B 

"       GEORGE  H.  PRATT,  B 

"       ALONZO  WHEELER,  B 

Corporal  FRANCIS  E.  WEED,  B 

"        ROSWELL  TAYLOR,  B 

"        ISAAC  W.  BISHOP,  B 

Private  GEORGE  M.  BALLING,  B 

"       JOHN  J.  BROWN,  B 

WILLIAM  B.  CASEY,  B 

"       BALTHASAR  EMMERICH,  B 

"       PETER  GENTIEN,  B 

"       DENNIS  HEGANY,  B 

WILLIAM  W.  JONES,  B 

"       JOHN  KLEIN,  B 

BENJAMIN  L.  MEAD,  B 

"       JOHN  MOHREN,  B 

"       CHARLES  NICHOLS,  B 

VICTOR  PINSAID,  B 

"       GEORGE  PRINDLE,  B 


Company. 

Private  MORANT  J.  ROBERTSON,  B 

"       SIDNEY  B.  RUGGLES,  B 

"          FELIX  SCHREGER,1  B 

LOUIS  SCHMEIDT,  B 

FREDERICK  L.  STURGIS,  B 

Sergeant  EVERETT  S.  DUNBAR/  C 

"       CHARLES  H.  GAYLORD/  C 

JOHN  N.  LYMAN,  C 

"       JOHN  MADDOX,  C 

Corporal  LEWIS  HART,1  C 

"        HOMER  M.  WELCH,'  C 

Private  WILLIS  BARNES/  C 

"       SEYMOUR  BUCKLEY/  C 

' '       CHAUNCEY  GRIFFIN,  C 

"       CHARLES  HOTCHKISS/  C 

"       CHARLES  MITCHELL/  C 

JOHN  O'DELL/  C 

"       FREDERICK  W.  PINDAR,  '  C 

JOSEPH  H.  PRATT,  C 

GEORGE  RORABACK/  C 

"       MORTIMER  H.  SCOTT,  C 

"       JOSEPH  TAYLOR,  C 

"       DANIEL  THOMPSON,  C 

Sergeant  JOHN  J.  SQUIER/  D 

EZRA  M.  HULL,'  D 

Corporal  EDWARD  ALTON,  D 

"       WILLIAM  FENNIMORE/  D 

ANDREW  HOLFORD/  I) 

Private  THOMAS  B.  ANDRUS/  I) 

'       ANTONIO  ASTENHOFFER/  I) 

"       HENRY  F.  BISHOP,'  D 

"       CHARLES  BLISS/  I) 

"      JOHN  CRAREY/  D 

JOHN  DILLON,  D 

JOHN  FEE,  D 

HENRY  F.  Fox/  D 

"       GOTLEIB  FALKLING/  D 

"       THOMAS  FITZPATRICK/  I) 

"       JOSEPH  GARDNER.  D 

"       NEWTON  GAYLOR/  D 

"       CASPAR  HEIDSICK/  D 

"       Louis  HETTINGER/  D 

JULIUS  KAMP/  D 

"       HENRY  KUHLMANER/  D 

"       HENRY  LONG/  D 

"       GEORGE  LOSAW/  D 


Not  on  the  roll  as  printed  in  Official  Records,  vol.  xxvi.^  part  /.,//.  S7-66- 


APPENDIX. 


491 


Company. 

Private  LUKE  McCABE,1  D 

HENRY  E.  POLLEY/  D 

FREDERICK  PousH,1  D 

HORACE  B.  STODDARD,1  D 

WILLIAM  H.  TUCKER,'  D 

"       MARTIN  TYLER,'  D 

"       Louis  WALTERS/  D 

"       EDWARD  WELDEN,  D 

Sergeant  NICHOLAS  SCHUE,  E 

"       RICHARD  CROLEY,  E 

Corporal  ROBERT  C.  BARRY,  E 

"       LEONARD  L.  DUGAL,  E 

Private  JACOB  BROWN,  E 

"      ADAM  GERZE/  E 

FREDERICK  HANNS,  E 

"      GEORGE  W.  HOWLAND,  E 

MICHAEL  MURPHY,  E 

CHARLES  F.  OEDEKOVEN,  E 

FRITZ  OEDEKOVEN,1  E 

F.  F.  F.  PFIEFFER,  E 

"      ANDREW  REAGAN,  E 

FREDERICK  SCHUH,  >E 

JOSEPH  VoGEL,1  E 

AUGUST  WILSON,  E 

Sergeant  EUGENE  S.  NASH,1  F 

'*       JOHN  T.  REYNOLDS/  F 

Corporal  JAMES  CASE,'  F 

Private  JAMES  BARRY/  F 

GEORGE  BOGUE/  F 

DAVID  H.  BROWN/  F 

HENRY  CLOUSINK/  F 

"      JAMES  COSGROVE,  F 

BYRON  CROCKER/  F 

"      DAVID  D.  JAQUES/  F 

"      ABEL  JOHNSON/  F 

"      PATRICK  LEACH,  F 

"      PATRICK  MARTIN/  F 

THOMAS  R.  MCCORMICK/  F 

JAMES  O'NEIL/  F 

"      HENRY  E.  PHINNEY,  F 

"      THOMAS  POWERS/  F 

ORRIN  M.  PRICE/  F 

"      THEODORE  SECELLE/  F 

"      WILLIAM  L.  WEBB/  F 

Sergeant  SAMUEL  L.  COOK/  G 

11       CHARLES  B.  HUTCHINGS,  G 

1  Not  on  the  roll  as  printed  in  Officit 


Company. 

Sergeant  JOHN  W.  BRADLEY,  G 

"       FRANCIS  HUXFORD,  G 

Corporal  MOSES  GAY,  G 

"       Louis  FEOTISH,  G 

"       EDMUND  BOGUE,  G 

"       TIMOTHY  ALLEN,  G 

Private  FRANK  AUSTIN/  G 

"      GEORGE  I.  AUSTIN,  G 

"      JOHN  BRAND,  G 

"      OCTAVE  CERESSOLLE,  G 

"      WILLIAM  B.  CRAWFORD/  G 

"      CHARLES  CULVER,  G 

"      JAMES  GAY,  G 

"      ALBERT  HOPKINS,  G 

"      JOHN  HUNT,  G 

"      HENRY  A.  HURLBURT,  G 

"         ASAHEL I NCR AH AM,  G 

"      JEREMY  T.  JORDAN,  G 

"      MICHAEL  KEARNEY,  G 

"      JOSEPH  KEMPLE,  G 

"      ALBERT  LELEITNER/  G 

WALTER  MCGRATH/  G 

"      JOHN  MCKEON,  G 

"      WILLIAM  M.  MAYNARD,  G 

DANIEL  MOORE,  G 

MORRIS  NEWHOUSE/  G 

"      TIMOTHY  O'CONNELL,  G 

"      WILLIAM  H.  REYNOLDS/  G 

"      ELLIS  B.  ROBINSON/  G 

"       HENRY  ROBINSON,  G 

"      JOHN  RYAN/  G 

"      ANTON  SCHLOSSER,  G 

"       MARTIN  J.  SHADEN,  G 

"       MARTIN  SHEER,  G 

"      CHARLES  SIDDERS,  G 

"      EDWARD  SKINNER/  G 

"      JOHN  SUARMAN,  G 

"      ANSON  F.  SUBER/  G 

"      SEBREEW.  TINKER,  G 

Sergeant  WILLIAM  H.  HUNTLEY,  H 

"       DENNIS  DOYLE,  H 

"       HERMAN  W.  BAILEY,  H 

Corporal  THOMAS  HARRISON/  H 

Private  PHILO  ANDREWS,  H 

"      NIRAM  BLACKMAN,  H 

"      JOHN  BLAKE,  H 

/  Records \  vol.  xxvi., part  I.^PP.  57-66. 


492 


THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 


Company. 

Private  FRANK  PATTERSON,  H 

"      GEORGE  H.  TWITCHELL,  H 

WILLIAM  H.  SMITH,'  H 

Sergeant  JOHN  DURESS,'  I 

"        ABNER  N.  STERRY,  I 

"        SAMUEL  TAYLOR,  I 

"        ENGELBERT  SAUTER,  I 

Corporal  FRANCIS  W.  PRESTON,'  I 

"        JOSEPH  FRANZ,'  I 

"       GARRETT  HERBERT,'  I 

Private  WILLIAM  ALBRECHT,  '  I 

44      FRITZ  BOWMAN,'  I 

"       ULRICH  BURGART,'  I 

"      MICHAEL  BURKE,  I 

"      JAMES  DILLON,  I 

11      PATRICK  HINES,'  I 

41      THOMAS  McGEE,  I 

"      CLIFFORD  C.  NEWBERRY,'  I 

"      HENRY  RELTRATH,'  I 

"      EDWARD  SMITH,'  I 

"       EDWARD  O.  THOMAS,'  I 

44      HENRY  WHITEMAN,'  I 

Sergeant  MILES  J.  BEECHF.R,  K 

GEORGE  H.  WINSLOW,  K 


Company. 

Sergeant  CHARLES  E.  HUMPHREY,  K 
Corporal  HERMAN  SAUNDERS, 
"        HERBERT  C.  BALDWIN 
"       JOHN  NUGENT, 
"        ROBERT  HOLLINGER, 
Private  JOHN  BENNETT, 

"       BENJAMIN  E.  BENSON, 
"       FRANK  C.  BRISTOL, 
"      WILLIAM  CALL,2 
"      GEORGE  CLANCY, 

WILLIAM  J.  COJER, 
"      THOMAS  DUFFY, 
44      SAMUEL  EAVES,' 
44      EDWARD  ELLISON, 

JOHN  GALL,' 
14      THOMAS  GRIFFIN, 
44       WILLIAM  KRAIGE  '• 3 
44      PATRICK  MAHONEY, 
44      THOMAS  MORRIS, 
44      RICHARD  O'DONNELL, 

GEORGE  C.  RUSSELL, 
"      BERNARD  STANFORD, 
44      JOHN  STOREY, 
"      BARTLEY  TIERNON 


25TH    CONNECTICUT. 


Company. 
Lieutenant  HENRY  C.  WARD 

(Adjutant). 

4<          HENRY  H.  GOODELL,     F 
Sergeant-Major  CHARLES  F.  ULRICH. 


Company. 

Private  ELI  HULL,'  B 

"      SAMUEL  SCHLESINGER,          F 

JOHN  WILLIAMS,'  H 


Captain  J.  R.  PARSONS, 
Lieutenant  C.  A.  TRACEY,' 

J.  T.  SMITH,' 
Sergeant  MICHAEL  H.  DUNN, 

JAMES  YORK,2 
44       GEORGE  McGRAw, 
Corporal  HENRY  CARLE, 
44       JOHN  EMPEROR, 
"       Jos.  A.  SCOVELL, 

JOHN  LOWER, 
Private  CHARLES  BAKER, 
44      RICHARD  BALSHAW,' 
44      PATRICK  BRENNAN, 


1ST   LOUISIANA. 

Company.  Company. 

I  Private  JOSEPH  BRIGGS,  I 

I  "  LEONARD  DEMARQUIS,  I 

I  "  JOHN  FAHY,  I 

I  "  JOHN  HUNT,  I 

I  41  HENRY  KATHRA,  I 

I  <4  ALEX.  KiAH,2  I 

I  '4  JAMES  MANAHAN,  I 

I  "  JAMES  McGuiRE,1  I 

I  <4  JOHN  REAS,  I 

I  44  JOSEPH  REAMAN,*  I 

I  "  JERRY  ROURKE,  I 

I  '4  JAMES  SMITH,  I 
I 


1  Not  on  the  roll  as  printed  in  Official  Records ,  vol.  xxvi.^  part  /.,  pp.  57-66. 


*  Not  on  Dirge's  duplicate  roll. 


3  Probably  Krug^  or  Kramer. 


APPENDIX. 


493 


2D    LOUISIANA. 


Company. 

Captain  WILLIAM  SMITH,2  H 

Private  LEWIS  DIEMERT,  A 

HENRY  MAYO,  A 

"      FREDERICK  A.  MURNSON,    A 

Sergeant  ALBERT  SADUSKY,  B 

Corporal  JOHN  HOFFMAN,  B 

Private  JAMES  CLINTON,  B 

MICHAEL  DUNN, 2  B 

BARNEY  MCCLOSKY,  B 

WILLIAM  ROCHER,  B 

"      JAMES  SULLIVAN,  B 

Sergeant  B.  E.  ROWLAND,1  C 

"       ANDREW  HARRIGON,  C 

Private  PATRICK  BROWN,  J-*  C 

JAMES  DONOVAN,  C 

"      JOHN  FRY,2  C 

WILLIAM  HAYES,'  C 

ADOLPH  JoiNFROio,1  C 

DANIEL  THEALE,  C 

WILLIAM  WILKIE,  C 

LEON  PAUL,  D 

"      JOSEPH  DUPUY,  F 

WILLIAM  GALLAGHER,  F 


Private  GEORGE  TYLER, 

"      EUGENE  GALLAGHER, 
i   Sergeant  THEODORE  LEDERICK, 


Company. 
F 
G 
II 

"       BENJAMIN  C.  ROLLINS,"    H 

Corporal  JACOB  STALL,2  H 

Private  JOHN  BRENNAN,  H 

"      PATRICK  DEViNE,2  H 

"      JOHN  ELDRIDGE,'  H 

PATRICK  GARRiTY,2  H 

"       Louis  HARRELL,  H 

"      JOHN  HAYES,  H 

LOUIS  ICKS,"2  H 

"      JOHN  LANE,  H 

"      THOMAS  R.  BLAKELY,*  I 

Louis  L.  DREY,  I 

"      JAMES  E.  MARINER,2  I 

FRANCIS  McGAHAY,2  I 

EDWIN  RicE,2  I 

Corporal  OTTO  FoucHE,2  K 

Private  HENRY  GORDON,2  K 

"      GEORGE  SEYMORE,2  K 

PAUL  E.  TROSCLAIR,2  K 


1ST    LOUISIANA    NATIVE    GUARDS.' 


Company. 


Sergeant  JOSEPH  FRICK, 
"        CHARLES  DUGUE, 
"        ERNEST  LEGROSS, 
Corporal  ARTHUR  MEYE, 
Private  VALCOUR  BROWN, 
CAMILE  CAZAINIER, 
EDMOND  CHAMPANEL, 
EUGENE  DEGRUY, 
"      CLEMENT  GALICE, 
"      Louis  LACRAIE, 
"      PIERRE  MARTIEL, 
JOSEPH  MOUSHAUD, 
ARMAND  ROCHE, 
FRANCOIS  SEVERIN, 
HENRY  SMITH, 
J.  BAPTISTE  SMITH, 
' '       MARTIN  WHITE, 
"      JOSEPH  LEWIS, 

1  Not  on  the  roll  as  printed  in  ( 
*  Not  on  forge's  duplicate  roll. 


Private  ROBERT  LOTSUM, 
Corporal  JULES  FRITS, 
Private  JAQUES  AUGUSTE, 
"      HENRY  BRADFORD, 

JOSEPH  CARTER, 
"      ISIDORE  CHARLES, 
EMILE  CHATARD. 


Company. 

G 

H 
H 
H 
H 
H 
H 


FREDERICK  DERINSBOURG,  H 

FRANCIS  FERNANDEZ,  H 

ARTHUR  GUYOT,  H 

SAMUEL  HALL,  H 

JOHN  HOWARD,  H 

JOSEPH  JACKSON,  H 

RICHARD  JOHN,  H 

JOE  JOSEPH,  H 

AUGUSTE  LEE,  H 

HENRY  LEE,  H 

OSCAR  POINTOISEAU,  H 


Ida!  Records,  vol.  xxvi.^part  /.,//.  57-66. 
3  Not  on  muster  roll. 


494 


THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 


Company. 

Private  JOSEPH  PATTERSON,  Sr.,  H 

"      JOSEPH  PATTERSON,  Jr.,  H 

PERRY  RANDOLPH,  H 

JAMES  RICHARDS,  H 

' '      BENJAMIN  STRING,  H 

"      RALEMY  WALSE,  H 

Sergeant  JOHN  J.  CAGE,  I 

"        JOHN  W.  BERWEEKS,  I 

Corporal  THOMAS  ALEXANDER,  I 

3D    LOUISIANA 

Company. 

Private  ABRAM  FROST,  A 

"       HENRY  MARSHEL,  A 

Sergeant  WADE  HAMBLETON,  C 

Corporal  MASSALLA  LOFRA,  C 

WILLIAM  MACK,  C 

E.  THOMINICK,  C 

Private  DANIEL  ANDERSON,  C 

"      BRACTON,  C 

"      WILLIAM  DALLIS,  C 

JACK  DORSON,  C 

"      WILLIAM  FINICK,  C 

' '      SOLOMON  FLEMING,  C 

"      WILLIAM  GREEN,  C 

"       GEORGE  JOSEPH,  C 

"      VICTOR  LEWIS,  C 

"      SAUNDERS,  C 

TAYLOR,  C 

"      WHITE,  C 

Sergeant  THOMAS  JEFFERSON,  E 


Company. 

Private  CHARLES  BRANSON,  I 

"      ALEXANDER  JONES,  I 

"      WILLIAM  MCDOWELL,  I 

COLLIN  PAGE,  I 

THOMAS  REDWOOD,  I 

"      WILLIAM  WOOD,  I 

' '      GEORGE  BURKE,  K 

ED.  MADISON,  K 

CHARLES  SMITH,  K 

NATIVE   GUARDS.2 

Company. 

Private  W.  HENRY,  E 

"      BENJAMIN  JOHNSON,  E 

"      JOSEPH  MILLER,  E 

"      THOMAS  SIMMONS,  E 

"      J.  W.  THOMAS,  E 

"      EDWARD  BROWN,  H 

"      ISAAC  GILLIS,  H 

"      JOHNSON,  H 

"      SILAS  HUFF,  H 

"       LEWIS  PAULIN,  H 

"      JOHN  Ross,  H 

J.  SMITH,  H 

SILAS  DICTON,  I 

"         LOUDON  McDANIEL,  I 

"      JOHN  TALLER,  I 

"      ISAAC  TWIGGS,  I 

"       GEORGE  WASHINGTON,  I 

11      WILLIAMS,  I 


I2TH    MAINE. 


Company. 

Captain  JOHN  F.  APPLETON,!  H 

Lieutenant  DANIEL  M.  PHILLIPS,    H 

"         MARCELLUSL.  STEARNS,  E 

Private  JOHN  COOPER,  A 

"      ISAAC  R.  DOUGLASS,  A 

"      ALMON  L.  GILPATRICK,       A 

"      JOHN  WELLER,  A 

Sergeant  SEYMOUR  A.  FARRINGTON,  E 

Corporal  HENRY  S.  BERRY,  E 


Company. 

Private  EDGAR  G.  ADAMS,  E 

"      OLIVER  D.  JEWETT,  E 

' '       NATHAN  W.  KENDALL,  E 

JAMES  POWERS,  E 

Sergeant  WILLIAM  M.  BERRY,  PI 

"       JAMES  W.  SMITH,  I 

"        HENRY  TYLER,*  H 

Private  FRANK  E.  ANDERSON,*  H 


I3TH    MAINE. 
Lieutenant  JOSEPH  B.  CARSON.' 

1  Not  OH  the  roll  as  printed  in  Official  Records,  vol.  xxvi.^fart  /.,  pp.  57-66. 
a  Not  on  Dirge's  duplicate  roll. 


APPENDIX. 


495 


I4TH    MAINE. 


Company. 
Lieutenant-Colonel  CHARLES   S. 

BICKMORE. 

Major  ALBION  K.  BOLAN. 
Captain  GEORGE  BLODGETT,  K 
Lieutenant  JOHN  K.  LAING,  F 
"         I.  FRANK  HOBBS,  G 
"         WARREN  T.  CROWELL,  K 
'*         MERRILL  H.  ADAMS,  B 
"         WILLIAM  H.  GARDINER, G 
"         CHARLES  E.  BLACK- 
WELL,*  I 
Sergeant-Major  CHARLES  W.  THING.* 
Sergeant  Jos.  F.  CLEMENT,  A 
"       GEORGE  C.  HAGERTY,  A 
Corporal  WILLIAM  C.  TOWNSEND,  A 
' '       OTIS  G.  CROCKETT,  A 
"       ALVA  EMERSON,  A 
Private  PETER  BEAUMAN,  A 
"      WILSON  BOWDEN,  A 
"      RICHARD  J.  COLBY,  A 
SETH  P.  COLBY,  A 
PETER  MISHER,*  A 
"      IRVIN  MORSE,  A 
"      EDWIN  ORDWAY,  A 
"      ALBERT  WEBSTER,9  A 
Sergeant  JOHN  DOUGHERTY,  B 
"       JAMES  SHEHAN,  B 
Corporal  PETER  EMMERICH/  B 
Private  JOHN  DARBY,'  3  B 
"      BENJAMIN  DOUGLASS,  Jr.,  B 
"      JAMES  ELDERS,  B 
"      GEORGE  N.  LARRABEE,  B 
"      JOHN  DAILEY,  C 
"      SIMON  BEATTIE,  E 


Company. 

Sergeant  F.  H.  BLACKMAN,1  F 

Jos.  W.  GRANT,  F 

Corporal  WILLIAM  M.  COBB,'  F 

"       WILLIAM  F.  JENKINS,  F 

Private  EDWARD  BETHUM,  F 

"      WILLIAM  E.  MERRIFIELD,  F 

"      HORACE  SAWYER,  F 

Sergeant  ARCHELAUS  FULLER,  G 

Corporal  EDWARD  BRADFORD,  G 

Private  SAMUEL  CONNELLY,  G 

"      EZRA  A.  MERRILL,  G 

Sergeant  CALVIN  S.  GORDON,  H 

Corporal  Louis  C.  GORDON, 2  H 

Private  JOHN  CUNNINGHAM,  I 
Sergeant  C.  PEMBROKE  CARTER, 
SAMUEL  T.  LOGAN, 
JOHN  S.  SMITH, 
"       WILLIAM  L.  BUSKER, l 
Corporal  JOHN  HAYES, 
Private  WILLIAM  R.  HAWKINS,2 
"      Jos.  PREBLE, 

"      ALBERT  B.  MESERVY,  I 

"      BENJAMIN  F.  ROLESON,  I 

Sergeant  WILLIAM  MULLER,  K 

"       ALEX.  WILSON,  K 

"       BAZEL  HOGUE,  K 

Corporal  JOHN  MOORE,  K 

"       WILLIAM  DARBY,  K 

Private  DANIEL  CONNERS,  K 

"      BENJAMIN  SANDON,1  K 

"      GEORGE  WATERHOUSE,  K 

"       JULIUS  WENDLANDT,  K 

4<      CHARLES  WILKERSON,  K 

ELLIOT  WITHAM.  K 


2 1ST   MAINE. 


Company. 

Captain  JAMES  L.  HUNT,'  C 

"       SAMUEL  W.  CLARKE,  H 

Private  J.  MiNK,2  A 

"         OTIS  SPRAGUE,9  A 

41      SEWELL  SPRAGUE,*  A 

"      JOEL  RICHARDSON,2  B 


Company. 

Private  ANDREW  P.  WATSON,'2  B 

"      JOHN  H.  BROWN,  C 

JOHN  E.  HEATH,  C 

CHARLES  T.  LORD,  C 

GEORGE  F.  STAGEY,  C 

WILLIAM  N.  TIBBETTS,  C 


1  Not  on  the  roll  as  printed  in  Official  Records •,  vol.  xxvi.^part  /.,//.  57-66. 
*  Not  on  Birgis  duplicate  roll.  s  Not  on  muster  roll. 


496 


THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 


Company. 

Corporal  GALEN  A.  CHAPMAN,  D 

"       ALONZO  L.  FARROW,  D 

Private  DAVID  O.  PRIEST,S  D 

DAVID  B.  COLE,2  E 

"      CHARLES  S.  CROWELL,*  E 

MELVILLE  MERRILL,"  E 

WILLIAM  DOUGLASS, 2  F 

"         GUSTAVUS  HlSCOCK,3  F 


Company. 


Corporal  MINOT  D.  HEWETT, 
Private  LEANDER  WOODCOCK, 
"      FREDERIC  Gouo,2 
' '      THOMAS  WYM  AN,  2 
"      JOHN  B.  MoRRiLL,2 
JAMES  S.  JEWELL/ 
FRANK  S.  WADE,* 


22D    MAINE. 


Company. 
H 
E 


Captain  ISAAC  W.  CASE, 

"       HENRY  L.  WOOD, 
Lieutenant  GEORGE  E.  BROWN,        A 
Private  VAN  BUREN  CARLL,  B 

"      DANIEL  MCPHETRES',  B 

24TH 

Company. 

Sergeant  GEORGE  E.  TAYLOR,          H 


Company. 

Corporal  D.  S.  CHADBOURNE,1          E 

Sergeant  SAMUEL  S.  MASON,  F 

Private  TIMOTHY  N.  ERWIN,  G 

"      AMAZIAH  W.  WEBB,  K 


MAINE. 


Private  JAMES  HUGHES, 


Company. 
H 


28TH    MAINE. 
Private  JAMES  N.  MORROW. 

3D    MASSACHUSETTS   CAVALRY. 


Company. 

Colonel  THOMAS  E.  CniCKERiNG.2 
Captain  JOHN  L.  SWIFT, *  C 

"       FRANCIS  E.  BOYD,  H 

Lieutenant  WILLIAM  T.  HODGES,    C 
"          HENRY  S.  ADAMS  2 

(Adjutant). 

DAVID  P.  MUZZEY,        G 

"      CHARLES  W.  C.  RHOADS,  H 

Sergeant-Major  WILLIAM  S.  STEVENS. 

Private  FERDINAND  ROLLE,  A 

Sergeant  NATHAN  G.  SMITH,  C 

HORACE  P.  FLINT,  C 

Corporal  GEORGE  D.  Cox,1  C 

Private  JOSEPH  ELLIOTT,  C 

"      EDWARD  JOHNSON,  C 

Corporal  PATRICK  DUNLAY,  G 

Sergeant  JASON  SMITH,1  G 

Private  SIMON  DALY,  G 

"      PETER  DONAHUE,  G 


Company. 


Private  JAMES  GALLAGHER,2 
"      JOHN  GRANVILLE,' 
"      JAMES  MCLAUGHLIN,' 
Sergeant  PATRICK  S.  CURRY,' 
Private  SOLOMON  HALL,* 
Sergeant  WILLIAM  WILDMAN, 
"       JOHN  KELLY, 
"       GEORGE  E.  LONG,' 
Corporal  WILLIAM  S.  CALDWELL, 
"     RANDALL  F.  HUNNEWELL, 
"       WILLIAM  P.  PETHIE, 
"       CHARLES  MILLER, 

WILLIAM  R.  DAvis,2 
Private  EDWIN  T.  EHRLACHER, 
"      GROS  GRANADINO, 
ELI  HAWKINS, 
PATRICK  J.  MONKS, 
"      JOHN  VELISCROSS, 
"      GEORGE  WILSON, 


1  Not  on  the  roll  as  printed  in  Official  Records \  vol.  xxvi.,part  /.,  pp.  S7-66- 

2  Not  on  Dirge's  duplicate  roll. 


APPENDIX. 


497 


I3TH   MASSACHUSETTS     BATTERY. 
Private  CESAR  DuBois,  |  Private  JOHN  V.  WARNER," 

26TH     MASSACHUSETTS. 
Lieutenant  SETH  BONNER,2  Company  F. 


30TH     MASSACHUSETTS. 


Company. 

Captain  EDWARD  A.  FISKE,  D 

Lieutenant  THOMAS  B.  JOHNSTON,  H 

"         NATHANIEL  K.  REED,    C 

FERDINAND  C.  PoREE,2  C 

Sergeant  W.  H.  H.  RICHARDS,        B 

Corporal  GEORGE  E.  COY,  B 

"       THOMAS  COURTNEY,          B 

Private  JAMES  M.  BROWN,  B 

"      ANDREW  COLE,  B 

"      MARTIN  HASSETT,  B 

"      GEORGE  TOOWEY,  B 

Sergeant  LUTHER  H.  MARSHALL,     C 

Private  WLLIAM  MCCUTCHEON,        C 

"      CHARLES  B.  RICHARDSON,  C 

"      GEORGE  SUTHERLAND,         C 

Sergeant  GEORGE  H.  MOULE,  D 

JOHN  E.  RING,2  D 


Company. 

Corporal  CHARLES  D.  MOORE,  D 

Private  JAMES  BOYCE,  D 

"      WILLIAM  KENNY,  D 

'*      HORACE  F.  DAVIS,  E 

Sergeant  MURTY  QUINLAN,  F 

"       THOMAS  A.  WARREN,  F 

Corporal  MICHAEL  MEALEY,  F 

Private  J.  SULLIVAN,'.  3  F 

Sergeant  JOHN  LEARY,  G 

"         WlLLARD  A.  HUSSEY,  H 

Private  JOHN  BATTLES,  H 

"  JOHN  HIGGINS,  H 

"  PAUL  JESEMAUGHN,  H 

"  WILLIAM  F.  KAVANAGH,  H 

"  JOHN  WELCH,  H 

"  JOHN  WILSON,  H 

Sergeant  SAMUEL  RYAN,  I 


3 1ST   MASSACHUSETTS. 


Company. 

Captain  EDWARD  P.  HOLLISTER,  A 

"       SAMUEL  D.  HOVEY,  K 
Lieutenant  LUTHER  C.  HOWELL 

(Adjutant). 

JAMES  M.  STEWART,  A 

Private  CHESTER  BEVINS,  A 

"      PATRICK  CARNES,  A 


Company. 

Private  FRANK  FITCH,  A 

"      WILLIAM  THORINGTON,  A 

"      PETER  VALUN,  A 

"      ETHAN  H.  COWLES,  B 

"      WILLIAM  J.  COLEMAN,  K 

"      MAURICE  LEE,  K 


38TH     MASSACHUSETTS. 
Lieutenant  FRANK  N.  SCOTT,  Company  D. 


48TH     MASSACHUSETTS. 
Private  MICHAEL  ROACH,  Company  G. 

1  Not  on  the  roll  as  printed  in  Official  Records,  vol.  xxvi.,pari  I., pp.  57-66. 
2  Not  on  Birge^s  duplicate  roll.  3  Jeremiah,  Co.  B,  James,  /,  or  Michael,  F? 

32 


498 


THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 


4QTH    MASSACHUSETTS.2 


Company. 

Lieutenant  EDSON  F.  DRESSER,  F 

Private  JAMES  W.  BASSETT,  A 

WILLIAM  E.  CLARK,  A 

WILLARD  L.  WATKINS,  A 

GEORGE  DOWLEY,  B 

HENRY  E.  GRIFFIN,  B 

CONRAD  HEINS,  B 

Corporal  THOMAS  H.  HUGHES,  D 

Private  PETER  COME,  D 


Company 

Private  EDWIN  N.  HUBBARD,  D 

"      FRANKLIN  ALLEN,  H 

"       GEORGE  KNICKERBOCKER,  H 

Corporal  JOHN  KELLEY,  I 

Private  ZERA  BARNUM,  I 

"       PHILANDER  B.  CHADWICK,  K 

"      THOMAS  MALONEY,  K 

"      ALBERT  F.  THOMPSON,  K 


50TII     MASSACHUSETTS. 


Company. 


Corporal  E.  S.  TUBES, 


Private  JAMES  MILLER, 


5 3D    MASSACHUSETTS. 

Company.    I 
Private  PETER  T.  DOWNS,  G   |   Private  PETER  DYER, 

6TH    MICHIGAN. 


Company. 

G 


Company. 
H 


Company. 

Private  ROBERT  ATWOOD,  A 

JOHN  R.  COWLES,  A 

"      JAMES  E.  ROOT,  A 

Sergeant  LESTER  Fox,  C 

"        ALBERT  B.  CHAPMAN,2  C 

Corporal  WILLIAM  A.  PORTER,  C 

Private  WALTER  B.  HUNTER,  C 

"      JOSEPH  W.  ROLPH,  C 

Corporal  CHARLES  ST.  JOHN,  D 

Private  PETER  DORR,  D 

"       HENRY  PLUMMER,!  D 

"      TOBIAS  PORTER, 2  D 

Sergeant  FREDERICK  BUCK,  E 

WILLIAM  L.  LEINRIE,  E 

Corporal  HARRY  S.  HOWARD,  E 

WILLIAM  KELLY,"  E 

"        HENRY  RHODES,  E 

Private  JOHN  AUSTIN,  E 

"      DANIEL  FERO,  E 

"      WILLIAM  HOGUE,S  E 

"      JAMES  R.  JOHNSON,  E 

"      AUGUSTUS  JONES,  E 

"       WILLIAM  RAPSHER,  E 

1  Not  on  the  roll  as  printed  in  Official  Records ,  vol.  xxvi.^part  I.,  pp.  S7-66- 
a  Not  on  Dirge's  duplicate  roll. 


Company. 
E 
F 


Private  JACOB  URWILER, 
"      ALFRED  E.  DAY, 

"      GEORGE  W.  SPARLING,  F 

Sergeant  GEORGE  H.  HARRIS,  G 

Corporal  PETER  A.  MARTINA  G 

"      FRANCIS  M.  HURD,  G 

Private  GEORGE  W.  DAILEY,S  G 

"      FREEMAN  HADDEN,*  G 

JOHN  W.  McBRiDE,2  G 

ROBERT  PAYNE,2  G 

"      CHARLES  E.  PLUMMER,*  G 

ENOCH  T.  SIMPSON, a  G 

"         OSBORN  SWEENEY,2  G 

"      THEODORE  WEED,2  G 

Sergeant  A.  C.  WmTCOMB,2  H 

Private  HENRY  B.  Dow,2  H 

"       GEORGE  A.  BENET,2  I 

Corporal  LEVI  A.  LoGAN,2  K 

"       JOHN  H.  WiSNER,2  K 

Private  SIMON  P.  BoYCE,2  K 

DAVID  H.  SERVis,2  K 

FRANCIS  E.  Tooo,2  K 


APPENDIX. 


499 


STH    NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 


Company. 

Captain  Jos.  J.  LADD,2  D 

Lieutenant  DANA  W.  KING,  A 


Private  JOHN  RiNEY,'2 
Sergeant  JOHN  FERGUSON,  ! 


Company. 
B 


I6TH   NEW    HAMPSHIRE. 


Company. 

Captain  JOHN  L.  RiCE,2  H 

Lieutenant  EDGAR  E.  ADAMS,  F 


Company. 

Corporal  CLINTON  BOHANNON,          C 
Private  ASA  BURGESS,  C 


EDWARD  J.O'DoNNELL,C      Corporal  WILLIAM  A.  RAND, 


Corporal  DANIEL  C.  DACEY,  A 

Private  EDWARD  J.  WILEY,  B 


Private  RUFUS  L.  JONES, 


75TH   NEW   YORK. 


Company. 

Private  EDSON  V.  R.  BLAKEMAN,     B 
"       LEVI  COPPERNOLL,  B 

"      LENOX  KENT,  B 

"      ETHAN  BENNETT,  l  I 


Company. 

Private  MARTIN- NORTON,  I 

"      JONAS  L.  PALMER,'  I 

"      CHARLES  WRIGHT,1  I 


90TH   NEW 

Company. 

Captain  HONORE  DE  LA  PATURELLE, 

E 

Sergeant  HENRY  M.  CRYDENWISE,  A 

Private  NICHOLAS  ScHMiLAN,1          A 

ALBERT  BARNES,  1  B 

"      GEORGE  ROBINSON,  l  B 

Corporal  JOHN  NEIL,  F 

Private  JOHN  McCoRMiCK,  F 

' '      MARTIN  MCNAMARA,  F 


YORK. 

Company. 

Private  JAMES  PROCTOR, 2  F 

Corporal  WILLIAM  DALLY,1  G 

Private  TIMOTHY  QUIRK, l  G 

"        SERRILER,1  G 

"      CHRISTOPHER  AUTENREITH,K 
"      JOHN  HERON,  K 

"      AMOS  MAKER,  K 

"      NELSON  ROOT,  K 


9 1ST   NEW   YORK. 

Company. 


Private  SAMUEL  WEBSTER, 

Sergeant  JAMES  A.  SHATTUCK,  B 

Private  JAMES  T.  McCoLLUM,2  B 

Sergeant  EDWARD  R.  CONE,  C 

Corporal  PLATT  F.  VINCENT,  C 


Company. 

Private  EDWIN  DE  FRATE,  C 

Corporal  CHARLES  E.  BOWLES,        E 
Private  Jos.  C.  WALLACE,  E 

Corporal  CHARLES  KEARNEY,  '         K 


I I4TH   NEW  YORK.1 


Company. 

Sergeant  WILLIAM  H.  CALKINS,        I 
Corporal  NATHAN  SAMPSON,  G 

C.  L.  WlDGER,  I 


Company. 

Private  HERBERT  CHISLIN,  G 

"      WARREN  H.  HOWARD,        G 
"      WILLIAM  POTTER,  G 


1  Not  on  the  roll  as  printed  in  Official  Records,  vol.  xxvi.^part  I.,J>j>.  57-66. 

2  Not  on  Dirge's  duplicate  roll. 


5oo 


THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 


Il6TH   NEW    YORK. 


Company. 

Corporal  FRANK  BENTLEY,  A 

Private  ISAAC  COLVIN,  A 

"      ANDREW  COOK,  A 

"      DANIEL  COVENSPARROW,      A 

"      PHILIP  LINEBITS,  A 

JACOB  BERGTOLD,2  B 

"      SYLVESTER  GLASS,2  B 

Corporal  GEORGE  W.  HAMMOND,2    C 

Private  HENRY  D.  DANIEL,  C 

"      CHARLES  FISHER,  C 

FREDERICK  HILDERBRAND,  C 

"      CHRISTIAN  GRAWi,2  D 

WILLIAM  W.  McCuMBER,2  D 

CORNELIUS  FITZPATRICK,     E 

"      JAMES  GALLAGHER,  E 


Company. 


Private  THEODORE  HANSELL, 
"      THOMAS  MALONEY, 
"      HENRY  C.  MILLER, 
"      FREDERICK  WEBBER, 
Corporal  JOSHUA  D.  BAKER, 
Private  JACOB  DEMERLY, 
"      FREDERICK  JOST, 
"      WILLIAM  MARTIN, 
"      SAMUEL  WHITMORE, 
"      HENRY  TRARER/ 
"      JACOB  TSCHOLE, 
"      JACOB  ZUMSTEIN, 
"      PHILIP  MARY, 
Corporal  ALBERT  D.  PRESCOT, 
Private  NICHOLAS  FEDICK, 


£ 
E 
£ 
E 
¥ 
F 
G 
C, 
G 
II 
II 
II 
I 
K 
K 


I28TH    NEW    YORK. 


Company. 

Captain  FRANCIS  S.  KEESE.  C 

Sergeant  THEODORE  W.  KRAFFT,  A 

"       FREEMAN  SKINNER,  A 

Corporal  MILO  P.  MOORE,  A 

Private  Jos.  M.  DOWNING,  A 

"      JOHN  N.  HAGUE,  A 

JARED  HARRISON/  A 

Jos.  C.  MOSHER,  A 

41      JAMES  MOSHERMAN,  A 

"      FREEMAN  OSTRANDER,  A 

Sergeant  CHARLES  W.  McKowN,  C 

' '       HENRY  A.  BRUNDAGE,  C 

JOHN  H.  HAGAR,  C 

Corporal  CLEMENT  R.  DEAN,  C 

"       DAVID  H.  HAUNABURGH,  C 

ELIJAH  D.  MORGAN,  C 

GEORGE  F.  SIMMONS,  C 

Private  ALBERT  COLE,  C 

GEORGE  CRONK,  C 


Company. 

Private  EDWARD  DELAMATER,  C 

"       PETER  DYER/  C 

"      ALBERT  P.  FELTS,  C 

CHARLES  MURCH,  C 

"      DANIEL  NEENAN,  C 

"      GEORGE  A.  NORCUTT,  C 

"      JOHN  R.  SCHRIVER,  C 

"      JOHN  L.  DELAMATER,  D 

"      WILLIAM  PLATTO,  D 

CHARLES  P.  WTILSON,  D 

Corporal  CHARLES  BROWER,  F 

Sergeant  C.  M.  DAVIDSON/  H 

Private  JOHN  A.  WAMSLEY/  H 

' '      CHARLES  F.  APPLEBY,  I 

"      STEPHEN  H.  MOORE,  I 

Corporal  SYLVESTER  BREWER  K 

Private  THOMAS  RICE,  K 

WILLIAM  VAN  BAK,'  K 


1 3 1ST     NEW    YORK. 

Company. 

Lieutenant  EUGENE  H.  FALES,  C 
EUGENE  A.  HINCHMAN,H 
JAMES  O'CONNOR,  F 
Louis  F.  ELLIS,  I 


Company. 

Lieutenant  JAMES  E.  McBETH,  K 

Private  WILLIAM  BURRIS, 

CHARLES  CAMERON,2  B 

NICHOLAS  HANSLER/  B 


1  Not  on  the  roll  as  printed  in  Official  Records,  vol.  xxvi.^part  I.^pp.  57-66. 

2  Not  on  Birgt?s  duplicate  roll. 


APPENDIX. 


501 


Company. 

Private  GEORGE  E.  STANFORD,  B 

Sergeant  ROBERT  W.  REID,  C 

Corporal  JONAS  CHESHIRE,  C 

"       EDWARD  NORTHUP,  C 

"       ISAAC  OGDEN,  C 

Private  HENRY  AYRES,  C 


Company. 

Private  RICHARD  M.  EDWARDS,       C 

"      THEODORE  KELLEY,        .    C 

CHARLES  W.  WEEKS,  C 

JACOB  HOHN,  I 

FERDINAND  NESCH,  I 


I33D   NEW 
Company. 


YORK. 


Captain  JAMES  K.  FULLER,2  C 

Lieutenant  RICHARD  W.  BUTTLE,    D 

HENRY  O'CONNOR,  I 

Private  NICOLAS  PITT,  B 

"      NELSON  BEANE,  C 

"      PATRICK  BOYNE,  C 

JOSEPH  FINN,  C 

PETER  HUDSON,  C 

"      JAMES  G.  KELLY,  C 

Corporal  JOHN  EISEMANN,  D 

Private  JOHN  NEWMAN/  D 

"      JOHN  A.  SHEPARD,1  D 

PATRICK  CALLANAN,  E 


Company. 
F 
G 
G 


Private  CYRUS  TOOKER, 
Sergeant  GEORGE  GIEHL, 
Private  JOSEPH  J.  BURKE, 

"      GEORGE  SCHLEIFER,  G 

JAMES  BRENNAN,  I 

"      JOHN  H.  DAWSON,  I 

"      JOHN  H.  GALE,  I 

Sergeant  GEORGE  HAMEL,  K 

Corporal  WILLIAM  STRATTON/  K 

Private  PATRICK  COSTELLO,  K 

"      HENRY  HODINGER.  K 

PHILIP  READY,  K 


Private  INNUS  A.  GRAVES,1 
"      THOMAS  HoRTON,1 
"      HENRY  JONES,  l 
"      PHILIP  LEWIS, 

BENJAMIN  RoBERSON,1 

"         SIMON  WASHBURN,1 

Sergeant  C.  G.  EARLE,1 
"       DANIEL  B.  DECS/ 
"       CLEMENT  Y.  CARLE,' 
Corporal  J.  B.  BARLISON,1 
Private  STEPHEN  R.  AcKER,1 
"      MATHEW  DIETS,' 
"      STEPHEN  ERNHOUT,1 

JOHN  HERRINGER,1 

A.  JARVIS  HATER/ 
"      ABRAHAM  KEYSER/ 
ALEXANDER  LowN,1 

F.  L.  SCAMPMOUSE,1 
"         A.  C.  SCHRIVER,1 

W.  SHADDUCK,1 
"         A.  G.  SLATER,1 


I56TH    NEW   YORK. 

Company.  Company. 

B  Private  J.  R.  SLATER/                        C 

B  "         JOHN  STRIVINGER,1                      C 

B  "      WILLIAM  THADDUCK/         C 

B  Corporal  RICHARD  ELLMANDORPH/D 

B  "       ARCHIBALD  TERWILLI- 

B  GER,1                                                             E 

C  Sergeant  JOHN  D.  FINK,                     F 

C  "       HIRAM  S.  BARROWS/         F 

C  Corporal  GEORGE  BRADSHAW/         F 

C  Private  JAMES  R.  LANE/                   F 

C  "      EDWARD  LITER/                  F 

C  "      MICHAEL  McGoRM/            F 

C  "      CHARLES  L.  MEGUIRE/        F 

C  Lieutenant  EDWARD  OLRENSHAW/  H 

C  Private  JOHN  MARVELL/                  H 

C  Captain  ORVILLE  D.  JEWETT/          I 

C  Lieutenant  JAMES  J.  RANDALL/        I 

C  "         CHARLES  W.  KENNEDY/ I 

C  Sergeant  EDWARD  STEERS/               I 

C  "       WILLIAM  S.  COSTILYOU/   I 
C 


1  Not  on  the  roll  as  printed  in  Official  Records^  -vol.  xxvi.^part  /.,//.  57-66. 

2  Not  on  Dirge's  duplicate  roll. 


502 


THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 


Company. 

Sergeant  THOMAS  F.  DONNELLY/  I 

"       THOMAS  SAUNDERS/  ,1 

Private  JAMES  BROUGHAM,1  I 

WELKIN  MOOREHOUSE,'  I 

JOHN  PROVOST,'  I 

"      JAMES  WATSON,  ]  I  I 

Sergeant  CHARLES  B.  WESTON,  K  i 

HENRY  ABBOTT,2  K  | 

Corporal  IVAN  NETTERBERG,  K 

"       ISAAC  W.  FULLAGER,  K 

Private  SIMEON  FRITTER/  K 


Company. 

Private  CHARLES  GAY  K 

"      AUGUST  LEONARD,  K 

"      NEIL  NEILSON,  K 

SAMUEL  OUTERKIRK,  K 

CHARLES  PODRICK,  '  K 

"         SVEN  SVENSON,1  K 

CHARLES  STUMP,  K 

"      AUGUSTUS  SWENSON,'  K 

"      JOSEPH  VON  MATT,  K 

THEODORE  WEBSTER,'  K 

ALEXANDER  WEHL  '  K 


I59TH    NEW   YORK. 


Company. 

Captain  ROBERT  McD.  HART,  F 

Lieutenant  ALFRED GREENLEAF,  Jr.,B 

DUNCAN  RICHMOND,  H 

Private  AMOS  HARK,  B 

GEORGE  W.  HATFIELD,  B 

"       HUGH  MCKENNY,  B 

"      JOHN  TAYLOR,  B 

Sergeant  MICHAEL  HOGAN,  C 

Private  CHRISTIAN  SCHNACK,  '  C 

Sergeant  JAMES  T.  PERKINS,  E 


Company. 

Private  JOHN  THORP,  E 

Sergeant  GILBERT  S.  GULLEN,  F 

Private  BARTHOLOMEW  TOSER,  F 

Corporal  E.  HoLLENBACK,1  H 

Private  H.  MclLRAVY,1  H 

D.  C.  McNEiL,1  H 

"      JAMES  BRAZIER,  2d,  I 

"      GEORGE  W.  SCHOFIELD,  I 

Sergeant  THOMAS  BERGEN,1  K 


I60TH    NEW    YORK. 


Company. 
Lieutenant-Colonel  JOHN  B.  VAN 

PETTEN. 

Assistant  Surgeon  DAVID  H.  ARM 
STRONG. 
Lieutenant  WILLIAM  J.  VANDEU- 

SEN,  A 

Lieutenant  ROBERT  R.  SEELEY,         I 

Private  OSCAR  CURTIS,  -  B 

A.  A.  HAMMER,  C 

JOSEPH  S.  INSLEY,2  C 

HENRY  F.  MC!NTYRE,          C 

GEORGE  MATTHIES,  C 


Company. 

Sergeant  J.  SAHVEY,1  E 

Private  MICHAEL  HILL,  E 

"      JOHN  LONG,  E 

JOHN  O'LAHEY/2  E 

Sergeant  B.  F.  MAXSON,  G 

ELON  SPINK,  G 

"       SAMUEL  KRIEGELSTEIN,    G 

"       JACOB  MCDOWELL,  K 

"       MICHAEL  HEWITT,'  K 

Private  ARTHUR  CLARKSON,  K 

"       LEWIS  KRAHER,  K 

"      JOHN  RAINCE,  K 


l6lST   NEW    YORK. 
Company. 


Major  CHARLES  STRAWN.2 
Lieutenant  WILLIAM  B.  KINSEY 

(Adjutant). 

1  Not  on  the  roll  as  printed  in  Official  Records ,  vol.  xxvi.,part  /.,//.  57-66. 

2  Not  on  Dirge's  duplicate  roll. 


Company. 

Captain  BENJAMIN  T.  VAN  TUYL,  A 
Sergeant  GEORGE  E.  ROSENKRANS,*  A 
Corporal  CLARK  EVANS,  A 


APPENDIX. 


503 


Company. 

Private  WILLIAM  JOLLEY,  A 

"      CORNELIUS  OSTERHOUT,  A 

"      JAMES  ANDERSON,  B 

Sergeant  LEWIS  E.  FITCH,  C 

Corporal  MAHLON  M.  MURCUR,  C 

Private  EDGAR  L.  DEWITT,  C 

"      HENRY  W.  MEAD,  C 

GEORGE  OLIVER,  C 

"      CHARLES  SPAULDING,  C 

Sergeant  DENNIS  LACY,  D 

"       BRADFORD  SANFORD,  D 

Private  JAMES  E.  BORDEN,  D 


Company. 

Private  LUMAN  PHILLEY,  D 

"      THOMAS  A.  SAWYER,  D 

"      JOHN  VAN  DOUSEN,  D 

"      MADISON  M.  COLLIER,  E 

Sergeant  BASKIN  FREEMAN,  F 

Private  CHARLES  ROBINSON,  F 

Sergeant  DE  WITT  C.  AMEY,  H 

Corporal  SAMUEL  ROBINSON,  H 

Private  JOHN  F.  YOUNG,  H 

"      JOHN  REAS/  I 

Sergeant  SILAS  E.  WARREN,  K 

Private  CHARLES  A.  HERRICK,  K 


l62D   NEW   YORK. 


Company. 

Captain  WILLIAM  P.  HUXFORD,  G 

Lieutenant  JOHN  H.  VAN  WYCK,  G 

"         WILLIAM  KENNEDY,  E 
"         R.  W.  LEONARD 

(Adjutant).1 

Sergeant  JOHN  McCoRMicK,  A 

"       THOMAS  BARRY,-  A 

"       JOHN  E.  BURKE,  B 

"       HENRY  LANDT,  C 

"       FREDERICK  SHELLHASS,  C 

Private  ANTON  BLEISTEIN,  C 

WILLIAM  F.  EISELE,  C 

"      JOHN  ENGEL,  C 

ALEX.  HERRMAN,  C 

"      LEO  KALT,  C 

"      CONRAD  SIEGLE,  C 

Sergeant  THEODORE  CHURCHILL,  D 

"       WILLIAM  KELLEY,1  D 

Corporal  THOMAS  McCoNNELL,  D 

Sergeant  JAMES  STACK,  E 

' '       GEORGE  W.  KEILEY,  E 

Corporal  JOHN  MCLAUGHLIN,  E 

GEORGE  W.  WAITE,  E 

JAMES  BALL,  E 

"       LORENZO  SULLY, '  E 

Private  THOMAS  CLAREY,  E 

"       PETER  CORBETT,  E 

"      THOMAS  DUFF,  E 

DANIEL  W.  DUNN,  E 


Company. 

Private  PATRICK  GINETY,  E 

"      DANIEL  GRAY,  E 

"      LAWRENCE  HALLEY,  E 

"      GEORGE  LARMORE,  E 

"      JAMES  MCCALL,  E 

"      MATHEW  MULLEN,'  E 

"       THOMAS  PERRY/  E 

"      PATRICK  SWEENY,  E 

Corporal  GUSTAVE  NORMANN,  F 

Private  JOHN  G.  THALMANN,  F 

Sergeant  GEORGE  W.  GIBSON,  G 

"       EDMUND  NOURSE,  G 

Private  WILLIAM  FERGUSON,  G 

"      WILLIAM  KEATING,  G 

Corporal  EDWARD  MURPHY,  I 

"      JOSEPH  MARTINES,  I 

"       MAXAMILLIAN  MILLER,  I 

"      DAVID  HART/  I 

"      GEORGE  WELCH,'  I 

Private  JAMES  BRADY,  K 

"       PETER  CHERRY,  K 

EUGENE  DETRICH,  K 

"      JOHN  FRAZER,  K 

Jos.  GITEY,  K 

"       FLEMING  KNIPE,  K 

"         DOMINICK  MCCONNELL,1  K 

JOHN  MCDONALD,  K 

"      LEWIS  YOUNG,  K 


1  Not  on  the  roll  as  printed  in  Official  Records,  vol.  xxvi.,part  /.,//. 

2  Not  on  Birge's  duplicate  roll. 


504 


THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 


I65TH    NEW   YORK. 

Company. 

Captain  FELIX  AGNUS,  A 

"       HENRY  C.  INWOOD,  E 

Lieutenant  GUSTAVUS  F.  LINGUIST,C 


Sergeant  WALTER  T.  HALL,  A 

"       WILLIAM  T.  SINCLAIR,  A 

"       JOHN  FLEMING,  A 

"       JOHN  W.  DICKINS,  A 

Corporal  RICHARD  BAKER,  A 

"        JOSIAH  C.  DIXON,  A 

"       GEORGE  E.  ARMSTRONG,  A 

Private  JAMES  E.  BARKER,  A 

"      PETER  BEAUCAMP,  A 

"      SAMUEL  DAVIS,  A 

GUSTAV  DRUCKHAMMER,  A 

"      THOMAS  KERNEY/  A 

"      DAVID  LEWIS,  A 

GEORGE  MCKINNEY,  A 

"      GEORGE  A.  METZEL,  A 

"      ELIAS  H.  TUCKER,  A 


Company. 

Private  JOHN  H.  VALK,  A 

"      EDWARD  VASS,  A 

Drummer  MICHAEL  DoNOHUE,1  A 

Private  ELISHA  E.  DENNISON,*  B 

"      PATRICK  H.  MATTHEWS,  B 

"      JOHN  CASSIDY,  C 

"      ROBERT  HOBBEY,  C 

LAURENTZ  LANGE,  C 

"      JOHN  LAUGHTMAN,  C 

Corporal  JAMES  F.  CAMPBELL,  D 

Private  EUGENE  DEFLANDRE,1  D 

"      HENRY  EDWARD,  l  D 

"      HENRY  R.  LooMis,1  D 

"      THOMAS  BELCHER,  E 

"      JOHN  FEIGHERY,  E 

"      STEPHEN  GILLEN,  E 

"      EDWIN  A.  SHAW,  E 

"      WILLIAM  VERO,  E 


I73D  NEW    YORK. 
Private  ALEXANDER  HENDRICKSON,  Company  C. 

YORK. 


I/4TH   NEW 
Company. 

Lieutenant  EDWARD  MARRENER,  I 

LATHAM  A.  FISH,  E 

EUGENE  E.  ENNSON,  C 

"         CHARLES  EMERSON, 2  I 

Sergeant  SAMUEL  WILSON/  A 

"       MORRIS  LANCASTER,  A 

Corporal  Louis  HAGEMAN,  A 

Private  WILLIAM  COOPER,  A 

' '      JOHN  CULLEN,  A 

"      JOHN  MALONEY,  A 

Corporal  GEORGE  ANDERSON,  B 

Sergeant  JOHN  GRAY,  C 

Private  JOHN  KUHFUSS,  C 

"      GUSTAVUS  HELLER,'  C 

"      GEORGE  W.  JONES,'  C 

WILLIAM  MCELROY, l  C 

"      ERNST  SCHMIDT,  C 

Sergeant  JOHN  KENNEY,  E 

Corporal  JOSEPH  H.  MURPHY,  E 

1  Not  on  the  roll  as  printed  in  Official  Records,  vol.  xxvi.,part  /.,  //.  57-66. 

2  Not  on  Birge's  duplicate  roll. 


Company. 

Private  THOMAS  WILLIAMS,  E 

"      THOMAS  FLETCHER,  G 

"      HENRY  D.  LASHER,  G 

'*      CHARLES  N.  THOMPSON,  G 

Sergeant  CHARLES  GARDNER,  H 

Private  THOMAS  CARROLL,  H 

"      WILLIAM  JOHNSON,  H 

HENRY  JONES,  H 

"      CORNELIUS  MOHONEY,  H 

"      JOSEPH  MESSMER,  I 

"      HENRY  POOLER,  I 

"      RICHARD  SCHOTTLER,  I 

Sergeant  CHARLES  DRANER,  K 

Private  FREDERICK  BANDKA,  K 

"      WILLIAM  HEINRICHS,  K 

"      EDWARD  KUHLMAN,  K 

"      JULIUS  LADIGES,  K 

"      FREDERICK  NILSEN,  K 


APPENDIX. 


505 


I75TH    NEW   YORK. 


Company. 

Lieutenant  SEIGMUND  STERNBERG,  i 
Sergeant  Major  ABRAHAM  LOEB. 
Private  FRANK  MARKHAM,  A 

Corporal  TIMOTHY  ALLEN,  B 

Private  OTTO  DORNBACK,  C 

"      RICHARD  O'GORHAM,  C 


Company. 

Private  PATRICK  MANERING,  D 

Sergeant  WILLIAM  O'CALLAGHAN,  E 

"       JAMES  HILLIS,"  E 

41       JAMES  H.  CALLOR,1  E 

Private  JOHN  O'CONNER,  E 

Corporal  PHILIP  DAUB,S  K 


I/7TH    NEW   YORK. 


Company. 

Sergeant  JOHN  D.  BROOKS,  A 

Corporal  PERCY  B.  S.  COLE,  A 

Private  SEYMOUR  D.  CARPENTER,  A 

"      JOHN  J.  GALLUP,  A 

"      THOMAS  J,  GARVEY,  A 

WILLIAM  HEMSTREET,  A 

JOHN  HOUSEN,  A 

' '      BARNEY  LA  VARY,  A 

"      RICHARD  C.  MAIN,  A 

"      ADAM  MILLIMAN,  A 

' '      HENRY  VON  LEHMAN,  A 

"         WlLLARD  LOUNDSBERY,1  A 

Corporal  GEORGE  A.  MCCORMICK,  B 


Company. 
B 
B 


Private  EBEN  HALLEY, 

"      DAVID  N.  KIRK, 

"      CHARLES  M.  SMITH,  B 

"      SAMUEL  H.  STEVENS,  Jr.,    B 

"      JOHN  GORMAN,  C 

"      MOSES  DE  COSTER,  D 

CHARLES  W.  LAPE,  E 

Corporal  ALONZO  G.  LUDDEN,  G 

Private  S.  W.  MEISDEN,2  G 

"      ELIAS  NASHOLD,  G 

"      JEDDIAH  TOMPKINS,  G 

"      RUSSELL  W.  COONEYS,  H 

"      GEORGE  MERINUS,  I 


8TH    VERMONT. 
Captain  JOHN  L.  BARSTOW,1-  2  Acting  Assistant  Adjutant-General. 


Company. 

C 
C 
C 


Private  JOHN  ADAMS,1 
"      JAMES  K.  BENNETT, 
"      FRANCIS  C.  CUSHMAN,' 

T.  E.  HARRIMAN/  C 

"      FRANK  LAMARSH,1  C 

JOVITE  PlNARD,1  C 

Sergeant  GEORGE  G.  HuTCHiNS,1  E 

Corporal  N.  H.  HiBBARD,1  E 

"        BENJAMIN  F.  BOWMAN, !  E 

Private  THOMAS  F.  FERRIN,V  E 

"      THOMAS  HOLLAND/  E 


Company. 

Sergeant  BYRON  J.  HURLBURT,  F 

Corporal  EDWARD  SAurus,2  F 

Private  GEORGE  N.  FANEUF,  F 

"      DAVID  LAROCK,  Jr.,  F 

"      ABNER  NILES,  F 

Corporal  ABNER  N.  FLINT,  G 

Private  SEYMOUR  N.  COLES,  G 

' '      LYMAN  P.  LUCE,  G 

"      ANDREW  B.  MORGAN,  H 

' '      PATRICK  BOLAN,  I 

"         D.  MARTIN,1  I 


2D   U.    S   ARTILLERY. 
Private  J.  D.  HiCKLEY,1  Company  C. 

1  Not  on  the  roll  as  printed  in  Official  Records •,  vol.  xxvi.^part  /.,  pp.  57-66. 

2  Not  on  Birge's  duplicate  roll. 


506  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 


4TH   WISCONSIN. 


Company. 

Lieutenant  ISAAC  N.  EARL,  C 

Corporal  L.  C.  BARTLETT,  C 


Company. 
Private  PATRICK  PIGEON,  !  A 


NOTE. — On  the  28th  of  June,  1863,  Birge  reported  to  Headquarters,  2 
battalions  of  stormers,  of  8  companies  each,  present  for  duty — 67  officers,  826 
men,  total  893.  His  duplicate  roll,  evidently  of  later  date  than  June  28th  and 
not  later  than  July  7th,  accounts  for  10  companies  with  71  officers  and  865 
men,  total  936.  The  list  here  printed  gives  1,230  names,  probably  representing 
1,228  persons. 


ARTICLES  OF  CAPITULATION2 

Proposed  between  the  commissioners  on  the  part  of  the  garrison  of  Port  Hudson, 
La.,  and  the  forces  of  the  United  States  before  said  place,  July  8,  1863. 

ARTICLE  I.  Maj.-Gen.  F.  Gardner  surrenders  to  the  United  States  forces 
under  Major-General  Banks  the  place  of  Port  Hudson  and  its  dependencies, 
with  its  garrison,  armament,  munitions,  public  funds,  and  material  of  war,  in 
the  condition,  as  nearly  as  may  be,  in  which  they  were  at  the  hour  of  cessation 
of  hostilities,  viz.,  6  A.M.,  July  8,  1863. 

ART.  II.  The  surrender  stipulated  in  Article  I.  is  qualified  by  no  condition, 
save  that  the  officers  and  enlisted  men  composing  the  garrison  shall  receive  the 
treatment  due  to  prisoners  of  war,  according  to  the  usages  of  civilized  warfare. 

ART.  III.  All  private  property  of  officers  and  enlisted  men  shall  be  respected 
and  left  to  their  respective  owners. 

ART.  IV.  The  position  of  Port  Hudson  shall  be  occupied  to-morrow  at  7  A.M. 
by  the  forces  of  the  United  States,  and  its  garrison  received  as  prisoners  of  war 
by  such  general  officer  of  the  United  States  service  as  may  be  designated  by 
'Major-General  Banks,  with  the  ordinary  formalities  of  rendition.  The  Con 
federate  troops  will  be  drawn  up  in  line,  officers  in  their  positions,  the  right  of 
the  line  resting  on  the  edge  of  the  prairie  south  of  the  railroad  depot,  the  left 
extending  in  the  direction  of  the  village  of  Port  Hudson.  The  arms  and  colors 
will  be  piled  conveniently,  and  will  be  received  by  the  officers  of  the  United 
States. 

ART.  V.  The  sick  and  wounded  of  the  garrison  will  be  cared  for  by  the 
authorities  of  the  United  States,  assisted,  if  desired  by  either  party,  by  the 
medical  officers  of  the  garrison. 

1  Not  on  Birge' 's  duplicate  roll. 

2  See  ante  p.  231  and  Official  Records ',  vol.  xxvi.^part  I.^pp.  52-54. 


NOTE  ON  EARLY'S  STRENGTH. 
BY  BREVET  BRIGADIER-GENERAL  E.  C.  DAWES,  U.S.V. 

The  return  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  for  October  31,  1864,  gives 
the  ' '  present  for  duty  "  in  the  Second  Army  Corps  commanded  by  General 
Early,  in  the  infantry  divisions  of  Ramseur  (Early's  old  division),  Rodes, 

Gordon,  Wharton,  Kershaw,  and  the  artillery  as 12,516 

The  cavalry  division  of  General  Lomax,  by  its  return  of  September 

loth,  numbered  for  duty 3.605 

The  cavalry  brigade  of  General  Rosser  l  about i,3°° 

The  cavalry  division  of  General  Fitz  Lee 2 1,600 

The  casualties  of  the  army  at  Cedar  Creek  were 3>IOQ 

Total  force  engaged  at  battle  of  Cedar  Creek 22,121 

Lomax 's  division  probably  lost  500  men  in  the  different  actions  prior  to 
Cedar  Creek  after  its  return  of  September  loth.  To  offset  this  no  account  is 
made  of  the  "  Valley  Reserves  "  (men  over  and  boys  under  conscript  age)  and 
"  detailed  men  "  (those  subject  to  conscription  who  were  permitted  to  remain 
at  home  to  do  necessary  work),  who  joined  the  army  after  its  defeat  at  Fisher's 
Hill.  General  Lee  wrote  General  Early  27th  September  :  ' '  All  the  reserves 
in  the  Valley  have  been  ordered  to  you."  That  the  order  was  obeyed  appears 
from  the  following  extracts,  from  the  diary  of  Mr.  J.  A.  Waddell  of  Staunton, 
Virginia,  printed  in  the  "  Annals  of  Augusta  County,  Va.,"  page  325  et  seq. 

"Saturday,  September  24  [1864]:  A  dispatch  from  General  Early  this 
morning  assured  the  people  of  Staunton  that  they  were  in  no  danger,  that  his 
army  was  safe  and  receiving  reinforcements.  He  however  ordered  the  detailed 
men  to  be  called  out.  .  .  .  October  15  :  Nothing  talked  of  except  the 
recent  order  calling  into  service  the  detailed  men.  .  .  .  The  recent  order 
takes  millers  from  their  grinding,  but  men  sent  from  the  army  undertake  in 
some  cases  to  run  the  machinery.  Farmers  are  ordered  from  their  fields  and 
barns  and  soldiers  are  detailed  to  thresh  the  wheat.  All  men  engaged  in 
making  horseshoes  are  ordered  off  so  that  our  cavalry  and  artillery  horses  will 
have  to  go  barefooted." 

The  return  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  for  3Oth  November,  1864, 
confirms  the  figures  given  above.  It  shows  "  present  for  duty  "  in  the  infantry 

1  Rosser's   brigade  belonged  to   Hampton's  old  division.     This  division,   "with   Rosser's 
brigade,  numbered  for  duty  September  10,  1864,  2.942.     On  October  31^,  without  Rosser' s 
brigade,  1,547.     It  is  fair  to  assume  the  difference  as  Rosser's  strength. 

2  Fitz  Lee's  division   on   return  of  August   -$ist   numbered  for    duty   1,683,-     on   y>th 
November,  1,524. 

507 


508  THE  NINETEENTH  ARMY  CORPS. 

division  of  Ramseur,  Rodes,  Gordon,  Wharton,  and  Kershaw,  and  the  Second 

Corps  artillery 15,070 

In  the  cavalry  divisions  of  Fitz  Lee  and  Lomax  (2  brigades,  Payne's 

and  Rosser's,  not  reporting) 3,625 

Add  for  Rosser's  and  Payne's  brigades 2,000 

Total  of  Gen.  Early 's  army,  November  soth 20,695 

Kershaw  had  returned  to  Richmond,  but  the  above  figures  include  the 
organizations  present  at  Cedar  Creek. 

CINCINNATI,  August  24,  1890. 


INDEX. 


Abbot,  H.  L.,  Captain,  60. 
Abert,  William   S.,  Lieutenant-Colo 
nel,  60. 
Acadians,  122. 
Alabama  (C),  58,  59,  265. 
Alabama,  1st  (C),  159,  173. 
Albatross,  79,  81-84,  148,  ^S- 
Alden,  James,  Captain    U.S.N.,    61, 

243- 

Alexander,  Barton  S.,  Lieutenant- 
Colonel,  409. 

Alexander,  Richard  H.,  Medical  Di 
rector,  60. 

Alexandria,  La.,  86  ;  Banks  marches 
to,  142,  144-148  ;  quits,  152,  284, 
287-294 ;  retreat  to,  326-334  ;  the 
dam,  337-342  ;  evacuated,  344. 

Allaire,  Anthony  J.,  Captain,  101,  341. 

Allen,  Charles  F.,  Major,  390. 

Allen,  Henry  W.,  Colonel  (C),  35; 
killed,  38. 

Allen,  Pickering  D.,  Lieutenant,  89. 

"  American  People,  the  voice  of  the," 

392,  393- 

American  soldier,  character  of,  209, 
210. 

Anderson,  R.  H.,  Lieutenant-General 
(C),  373-378. 

Andrews,  George  L.,  Brigadier-Gen 
eral,  57,  67,  177,  179,  223,  231, 
232,  257,  258,  260-262. 

Andrews,  J.  L.,1  Captain,  324. 

Anglo-American,  transport,  214. 

Annable,  Thomas  H.,  Captain,  281. 

Anthony,  Robert  C.,  Major,  238. 

Aransas  Pass,  Tenn.,  276. 

Arizona,  104,  105,  121,  126,  148,  154, 
165,  268-272. 

Arkansas,  Confederate  ram,  29  ;  fights 
U.  S.  fleet,  29-31  ;  at  Baton  Rouge, 
33,  35,  37,  38  J  destroyed,  38. 

Arkansas,  co-operating  column  from, 
(see  Steele,  Frederick?) 

Arkansas,  nth  (C),  189. 


Arkansas,  I4th  (C),  161. 

Arkansas,  i6th  (C),  220,  221. 

Arkansas,  lyth  (C),  189. 

Arkansas  division  (C)  (see  Churchill}. 

Arkansas  Post,  70. 

Army  of  the  Shenandoah,  366,  442. 

Army  of  the  Tennessee,  142,  143,  284, 
285,  292  ;  detachment  of  (see 
Smith,  A.  y.). 

Arnold,  Richard,  Captain,  60  ;  Briga 
dier-General,  96,  167,  186,  189  ; 
commands  cavalry,  328. 

Artillery  left  in  Louisiana,  353. 

Assault,  of  May  27,  1863,  166-183  \ 
of  June  14,  1863,  194-204. 

Assaults  rarely  succeed,  205-208. 

Atchafalaya  River,  46,  72,  73,  85-88, 
122  ;  Confederate  Navy  on  the,  88, 
89  ;  Banks  crosses,  153,  154,  159  ; 
bridge  of  steamboats,  346,  347. 

Atlantic,  transport,  59. 

Attakapas,  73. 

Augur,  C.  C.,  Major-General,  56,  57, 
61,  66,  77,  130  ;  at  Plains  Store, 
160-162  ;  at  Port  Hudson,  159-162, 
165,  166  ;  first  assault,  168,  169, 
174-176,  179-181  ;  commands  left 
wing,  1 88  ;  second  assault,  194, 
200,  228,  232  ;  succeeded  by  Weit- 
zel,  233,  250,  362,  404. 

Augiista,  57. 

Averell,  W.  W.,  Brigadier-General, 
359,  361,  362,  365,  376,  378,  379, 
391,  401. 

Avery  Salt  Works,  123,  124. 

Avoyelles  Prairie,  affair  on  the,  344, 
345- 

Babcock,  Willoughby,  Lieutenant- 
Colonel,  170,  394. 

Bache,  T.  H.,  Surgeon,  Medical 
Director,  8. 

Bacon,  Edward,  Lieutenant-Colonel, 
199. 


1  Probably  James  L.  A  ndet 
509 


5io 


INDEX. 


Bagby,    A.    P.,   Colonel  (C),   63,   97, 

302,  317,  325,  330,  344. 
Bailey,    Joseph,    Lieutenant-Colonel, 

263,  330,  337,   338,  340,   341,   346, 

347- 

Bailey,  Theodorus,  Captain,  13. 
Bainbridge,    E.    C.,  Captain,   90,   98, 

99,  171,  210,  221,  224,  267. 
Bains,  J.  M.,  Lieutenant,  212. 
Baker,  John  P.,  Captain,  281. 
Ball,  W.  H.,  Colonel,  425-427. 
Baltic,  transport,  59. 
Baltimore  and   Ohio  Railway   as    an 

objective,   361,   362,   363,  371,  372, 

374,  377- 

Baltimore,  troops  from,  56. 

Banks,  Nathaniel  P.,  Major-General, 
assigned  to  command,  54-56,  66  ; 
at  Washington,  55,  56  ;  orders  from 
government,  56,  60,  61  ;  relieves 
Butler,  60  ;  difficulties,  67,  68-71  ; 
staff,  69  ;  and  Farragut's  plans, 
76-84  ;  correspondence  with  Grant, 
84  ;  Teche  campaign,  85-134  ;  cor 
respondence  with  Grant,  135-142, 
I57>  J58,  183,  184  ;  communica 
tion  with  Grant,  135-142,  149- 
ISIt  J57  >  authorized  to  command 
united  forces  on  Mississippi,  139  ; 
marches  to  Alexandria,  144—149  ; 
changing  plans,  149,  150  ;  moves 
on  Port  Hudson,  152-162  ;  opera 
tions  against  Port  Hudson,  163- 
234  ;  summons  Gardner  to  surrender, 
193  ;  calls  for  volunteers  as  stormers, 
212  ;  correspondence  with  Halleck, 
214  ;  Corps  d'Afrique,  219,  261, 
262  ;  correspondence  with  Gardner, 
227-229  ;  accepts  surrender  of  Port 
Hudson,  231  ;  thanked  by  Govern 
ment,  256,  257  ;  plans  to  go  against 
Mobile,  264  ;  ordered  to  occupy 
Texas,  264-266  ;  resulting  opera 
tions,  266-276  ;  winter  quarters, 
277-281  ;  mounts  seven  infantry  regi 
ments,  280  ;  in  the  Red  River  cam 
paign,  282-348  ;  under  Canby,  347. 

Banks's  expedition,  57-60. 

Barnard,  J.  G.,  Brigadier-General,  6. 

Barnes,  James,  Captain,  260. 

Barney's  Point,  La.,  26. 

Barre's  Landing,  La.,  144. 

Barrett,  Richard,  Captain,  49,  73,  107, 
no,  125,  154,  252. 

Barrett,  William  M.,  Captain,  203. 

Bartlett,  Ozias  E.,  Lieutenant,  221. 

Bartlett,  William  F.,  Colonel, 
wounded,  182. 

Bassett,  Chauncey  J.,  Captain,  21  ; 
Lieutenant-Colonel,  173,  174. 


Baton    Rouge,    La.,    7,    17,    18,    22  ; 

battle  of,  32-42  ;  described,  33,  34  ; 

losses,    38,    39  ;  evacuated,   40-42  ; 

fortified,    41,    42  ;    reoccupied,    61, 

77,  78. 

Batteries  left  in  Louisiana,  353. 
Battle,  C.  A.,   Brigadier-General  (C) 

385- 

Baylor,  George  W.,  Colonel  (C),  330. 
Bayou    Boeuf,     La.,    47  ;    surrender, 

240,  242. 

Bayou    Bourbeau,    La.,    affair    near, 

277. 

Bayou  Carencro,  La.,  126. 
Bayou  Choupique,  La.,  102,  no,  115. 
Bayou  City  (C),  64. 
Bayou  Cypremort,  La.,  116,  119,  120. 
Bayou  Fordoche,  affair  near,  273. 
Bayou  Fusilier,  La.,  126. 
Bayou  Plaquemine,  87,  88. 
Bayou   Ramos,   La.,    89  ;  abandoned, 

241,  242. 

Bayou  Sara,  La.,  Grant's  promise  to 
meet  Banks  at,  136-139,  142,  151, 
158;  Banks  lands  at,  158,  159. 

Bayou  Sorrel,  La.,  87,  88. 

Beal,   George  L.,   Colonel,   327,  328, 

331,  333,  343,  350,  381,  382,  388, 
390,  398,  415,  440,  442,  445. 

Beall,   W.    N.    R.,   Brigadier-General 

(C),  62,  164,  182. 
Bean,  Sidney  A.,  Lieutenant-Colonel, 

36,  130,   131,  154  ;  Colonel,  killed,, 

203. 
Beauregard,  G.   T.,   General  (C),  19, 

20,  26. 

Beck,  W.  B.,  Lieutenant,  162. 
Beckwith,   E.    G.,    Colonel,    60,   267, 

273- 
Beecher,  Harris  H. ,  Assistant  Surgeon, 

394- 

Bee,  H.  P.,  Brigadier-General  (C), 
302,  304,  316-319,  324,  329,  330, 

332,  333- 

Belfast,  transport,  314. 

Belle  Grove  House,  Cedar  Creek,  412, 
418,  420-423,  427. 

Bell,  H.  H.,  Captain,  13;  Commo 
dore,  257,  267. 

Benedict,  Lewis,  Colonel,  160,  165, 
281,  309,  310,  315-320. 

Benton,   144. 

Benton,  W.  P.,  Brigadier-General, 
258,  268. 

Bermuda    Hundred,    Va.,    355,    360, 

365- 

Berryville  Canon,  Va.,  379-381. 
Berryville-Clifton  Line,  371. 
Berryville,  Va.,  371,  377. 
Berwick  Bay,  La.,  48,  73,  89. 


INDEX. 


511 


Bethel  Place,  92-103. 

Bickmore,  A.  S.,  Lieutenant-Colonel, 
213. 

Bid  well,  D.  D.,  Brigadier-General, 
436. 

Birge,  Henry  W.,  Colonel,  107,  108, 
no,  in,  113,  114,  117,  187,  199  ; 
to  lead  stormers,  212,  229,  232,  252, 
260,  273,  281,  327-332,  350,  361, 
381,  383-386,  390,  393,  394,  398, 
414,  415,  417,  421,  432,  434,  436, 
446. 

Bisland,  battle  of,  92-103  ;  Camp,  86. 

Bissell,  George  P.,  Colonel,  in. 

Black  Hawk,  257  ;  transport,  289. 

Black  River,  La.,  86,  286. 

Blair's  Landing,  La.,  313,  314  ;  affair 
near,  325. 

Blanchard,  Julius  W.,  Lieutenant- 
Colonel,  216,  332. 

"Blue-Jacket"  batteries,  186,  211, 
232. 

Boardman,  F.  A.,  Major,  17,  21,  22. 

Boardman,  Mary  A.,  transport,  64. 

Boggy  Bayou,  La.,  324. 

Bonnet  Carre,  La.,  17. 

Boone,  R.  M.,  Captain,  161,  162. 

Bourne,  Edmund  L.,  Master's  Mate, 
186. 

Bowen,  James,  Brigadier-General,  57, 

67. 
Bradbury,   Albert  W.,   Captain,   175, 

252,  253,  267  ;  Major,  365,  385,  398. 
Bradley,   Theodore,  Lieutenant,   in, 

113- 

Bragg,  Braxton,  General  (C),  45. 
Bragg,  U.  S.  captured  ram,  30. 
Brannan,    J.    M.,    Brigadier-General, 

155- 

Brashear,  La.,  48,  73,  86 ;  surprise 
and  surrender  of,  236-241  ;  re- 
occupied,  252,  254,  255. 

Braxton,  C.  M.,  Lieutenant-Colonel 
(C),  383,  392. 

Breaux  Bridge,  La.,  125. 

Breckenridge,  John  C., Major-General, 
25,  32,  33,  35,  37,  38,  41,  217,  391- 

Bridge  of  steamboats,  346,  347. 

Brigades  (see  under  Names  of  Com 
manders). 

Brooklyn,  13,  17,  25. 

Brownell,  W.   R.,  Medical  Director, 

439- 
Brown,  Isaac  N.,  Commander  (C),  29  ; 

destroys  Arkansas  (C),  38. 
Brown,  J.  H.,  Lieutenant,  36,  43. 
Brown's  Gap,  Va.,  402. 
Brownsville,  Tex.,  seized,  275. 
Bryan,  Michael  K.,  Colonel,  92,  95. 
Buchanan,  James,  portrait,  42. 


Buchanan,  T.  McKean,  Commander, 
U.S.N.,  46,  73;  killed,  74. 

Buchel,  A.,  Colonel  (C),  318,  319. 

Buckley,  W.  W.,  Captain,  365,  421. 

Buford,  Abraham,  Brigadier-General 
(C),  164. 

Bulkley,  Charles  S.,  138. 

Bullen,  Joseph  D. ,  Major,  243, 246, 247. 

Bunker  Hill,  Va.,  366,  371,  374. 

Burbridge,  S.  G.,  Brigadier-General, 
273,  274,  277. 

Burrell,  Isaac  S.,  Colonel,  62-64. 

Burt,  Charles  A.,  Major,  112  ;  Lieu 
tenant-Colonel,  171. 

Butler,  B.  F.,  Major-General,  com 
mands  expedition,  5-7  ;  capture  of 
New  Orleans,  6— 16  ;  commands 
Department  of  the  Gulf,  7,  8  ;  first 
attempt  on  Vicksburg,  17,  19,  20, 
23  ;  and  battle  of  Baton  Rouge,  39— 
42,  45  ;  occupies  La  Fourche,  46  ; 
equips  gunboats,  46  ;  raises  Louisi 
ana  regiments,  49  ;  raises  colored 
regiments,  49,  50  ;  Halleck  promises 
reinforcements,  51  ;  relieved,  60, 
85,  218,  352,  360,  362. 

Butte-a-la-Rose,  La.,  86,  87,  122, 
126,  128. 

Cahawba,  transport,  272. 

Cahill,  Thomas  W.,  Colonel,  39,  239, 
260. 

Cailloux,  Andrew,  Captain,  174. 

Calhoun,  46,  48,  73,  88,  89,  104,  121, 
126. 

Cambria,  transport,  62,  65. 

Cameron,  Robert  A.,  Brigadier-Gen 
eral,  288,  305,  311,  312,  316,  328, 
330,  333,  35i. 

Camp  Bisland,  La.,  86,  92,  105,  109. 

Camp,  Charles  H.,  Lieutenant,  73 

Camp  Moore,  16,  32,  33. 

Camp  Parapet,  43,  44. 

Camp  Russell,  Va.,  441,  443. 

Camp  Sheridan,  Va.,  441. 

Campti,  La.,  affair  near,  326. 

Canal  opposite  Vicksburg,  23,  24,  28, 

29,  31- 
Canby,  E.  R.  S.,  Major-General,  354, 

439- 
Cane  River,    La.,    295  ;   crossing  and 

battle,  328-333- 

Carondelet,  U.  S.  gunboat,  29-31,  295. 
Carpenter,    Horace,    Lieutenant   (C), 

233- 

Carr,    Gouverneur,    Major,    wounded, 

179,  182. 
Carruth,  W.  W.,   Lieutenant,   36,  45, 

73  ;  Captain,  98,  99,  160,  237,  252, 

253- 


512 


INDEX. 


Cavalry,  67,  125,  126,  131,  154,  186, 
189-191. 

Cavalry  (C),  128,  189,  329. 

corps,  Sheridan's  (see  also 

Torbert,  A.  T.  A.,  and  Merritt, 
Wesley),  374,  378. 

division,  274,  277,  280,  311 

(see  Lee,  A.  Z.)  ;  commanded  by 
Arnold,  328  (see  Arnold}  ;  left  in 
Louisiana,  353. 

Cayuga,  13,  36. 

Cedar  Creek,  Va.,  373,  374,  404,  412  ; 
battle  of,  410-438  ;  Moon,  Sun, 
arid  Daylight,  times  of,  417  ;  strag 
glers,  428,  429,  436,  437  ;  the  fight 
ing  line,  428,  436,  437. 

Cemetery,  the,  at  Cedar  Creek,  423- 
425- 

Centreville,  La.,  86. 

Ceres,  transport,  21. 

Chalmette,  La.,  10-14. 

Chambersburg,  Penn.,  363. 

Chandler,  John  G.,  Lieutenant-Colo 
nel,  263. 

Chapin,  E.  P.,  Colonel,  at  Plains 
Store,  161,  162  ;  at  Port  Hudson, 
168,  179,  180  ;  killed,  182  ;  suc 
ceeded  by  C.  J.  Paine,  187. 

Chapman,  A.  W.,  Captain,  281,  305. 

Chareriton,  La.,  107. 

Charles  Osgood,  transport,  65. 

Charles  Thomas,  transport,  269. 

Charleston,  S.  C.,  447. 

Charlestown,  Va.,  371. 

Charlottesville,  Va.,  403,  405,  406, 
438,  442. 

Chase,  Frederick,  Lieutenant,  365. 

Chickasaw  Bayou,  Miss.,  25. 

Chickasaw  Bluffs,  69. 

Chickering,  T.  E.,  Colonel,  77,  155- 
158,  236. 

Chillicothe,  295. 

Chittenden,  N.  H.,  Sergeant-Major, 
18. 

Choupique  Bridge,  La.,  102,  115. 

Chrysler,  Morgan  H.,  Colonel,  333. 

Churchill,    T.    J.,     Brigadier-General 

(C),  300,  302,  314,  315,  317-319. 

329.  348. 
Cipher  code,  138. 
City  Belle,  transport,  343. 
Clack,    F.    H.,    Major  (C),    109,  in, 

113- 

Clara  Bell,  transport,  286. 
Clark,  Charles,  Brigadier-General  (C), 

35  ;  wounded,  38. 
Clarke,  Charles  E.,  Captain,  36. 
Clark,  Eusebius  S.,  Major,  394. 
Clark,  John  S.,  Colonel,  298. 
Clark,  Orton  S.,  Lieutenant,  228 


Clark,  Thomas  S.,  Colonel,  wounded, 

182,  187,  188,  199,  200. 
Clayton,  Powell,  Colonel,  292. 
Clifton,    26,   62,    64,     loo,     102-105, 

122,  255,  268-272. 
Clifton-Berryville  Line,  371. 
Clifton,  Va.,  371. 
Climatic    disease,    extraordinary    loss 

by,  187. 
Clinton,  La.,  78,  189  ;  affairs  at,  190, 

191. 

Clinton,  transport,  356. 
Closson,    H.  W.,   Captain,    107,    no, 

124,  246,  263,  267,    315,    316,    328, 

331,  332. 

Cobb's  (Ky.)  Battery  (C),  35. 
Cocheu,  Henry,  Captain,  87. 
Cohen,  Patrick,  private,  197. 
Cold  Harbor,  351,  352. 
Colored  troops  (C),  49. 
Colored  troops  (U),  49,  218,  219,  260- 

262. 

Comstock,  Apollos,  Captain,  255. 
Cone,  P.  S.,  Captain,  304,  306. 
Confederate  forces,  in  Teche  country, 

72,  275;  trans-Mississippi,  266. 
Confederate   navy,    10,    14  ;    fleet   at 

Memphis  destroyed,  24  ;  in  Yazoo, 

29  ;  on  the  Teche,  48,  88,  89. 
Congress  votes  thanks,  256. 
Connecticut,  gth,  16,  22,  23  ;  at  Baton 

Rouge,    36,    37  ;    at    La    Fourche 

Crossing,  239. 
I2th,    15,  16,   45,   73  ;  at  Bis-, 

land,  98,  154  ;  at  Port  Hudson,  170, 

198,  255  ;   Opequon,  382,  388-390, 

394- 

1 3th,    8,   45  ;    at  Irish  Bend, 


107,  in,  113,  114  ;  in  pursuit,  126, 
155  ;  at  Port  Hudson,  172,  212, 
232>  255  ;  re-enlisted  veterans,  280  ; 
at  Cane  River,  328,  330,  331  ;  at 
Opequon,  385. 

23d,  73  ;  at  La  Fourche  Cross 
ing.  237-239  ;  at  Bayou  Bceuf,  240  ; 
at  Brashier,  240,  241. 

24th,  198. 

25th,  at  Irish  Bend,  110-112, 

114  ;  at  Port  Hudson,  171,  172. 

26th,  at  Port  Hudson,  177, 

200,  257, 

28th,  at  Port  Hudson,  187. 

Conrady,  Howard  C.,  Captain,  318, 
332. 

Constitution,  transport,  5. 

Cooke,  A.  P.,  Lieutenant  -  Com 
mander,  104-106,  121,  122,  126, 
128. 

Cook,  J.  J.  Colonel  (C),  63. 

Cooley,  James  C.,  Captain,  439. 


INDEX. 


513 


Cooley's  House,  Cedar  Creek,  416. 

Corinthian,  transport,  357. 

Corinth,   Miss.,  20,  21  ;  Confederates 

evacuate,  26,  27. 
Cornay,  Florian  O.,  Captain  (C),  102, 

105,  106,  109,  111-113,  247. 
Cornie  (C),  transport,  captured,   115, 

126. 
Corps     d'Afrique,      219,      260-262    ; 

Dickey's     brigade,     292     (see  also 

Louisiana  Native  Guards). 

i6th  Infantry,  275. 

Corypheus,  62,  64. 

Cote  Gelee,  La.,  125. 

Cotton,  y.  A.  (C),  48,  73,  74,  122. 

Couch,  D.  N.,  Major-General,  364. 

Covingion,  343. 

Cowles,    David     S.,     Colonel,     179  ; 

killed,  182. 

Cox,  C.  H.  Lieutenant,  268. 
Cox,  Clayton,  Captain,  99. 
Cox's  Plantation,  La.,  battle  of,  251- 

253. 

Cox,  W.  R.,  Master's  Mate,  186. 

Craven,  T.  T.,  Captain,  17 

Crebs,  J.  M.,  Lieutenant-Colonel, 
328,  333- 

Creole,  transport,  353,  357. 

Crescent,  transport,  353,  355,  356. 

Crocker,  Frederick,  Lieut.,  U.S.N., 
267-272. 

Crook,  George,  Brigadier-General, 
361,  363-367,  371,  372,  375,  377, 
379,  382,  389-394,  397-404,  4o6, 
408,  410,  411,  413-419,  421,  432, 

435,  437,  441. 

Crosby,  J.  Schuyler,  Captain,  138. 
Crowder,  John  H.,  Lieutenant,  174. 
Cunningham,     Edward,      Lieutenant, 

321. 
Currie,    Leonard     D.     H.,    Colonel, 

wounded,  203,  350,    353,  361,  376, 

442. 
Custer,  George  A.,  Brigadier-General, 

375,  376,   406,  408,   409,  415,  421, 

43i,  433,  434,  436. 
Cutshaw,  W.   E.,   Lieutenant-Colonel 

(C),  373- 
Cypremort,  Bayou,  La.,  116,  119,  120, 

122. 
Cypress  Island,  La.,  105. 

Dam,  the,  337-342. 

Dana,  N.  J.  T.,   Major-General,  273, 

275. 

Davis,  Charles,  A.,  Lieutenant,  64. 
Davis,   Charles    Henry,    Flag-Officer, 

24,  27,  32. 
Davis,  Edward  J.,  Colonel,  328,  330, 

333- 


Davis,  Edwin  P.,  Colonel,  353,  355, 
390,  414,  415,  420,  432-434. 

Davis,  Jefferson, '165. 

Dawes,  E.  C.,  Brevet  Brigadier-Gen 
eral,  437. 

Day,  Nicholas  W.,  Colonel,  385,  386, 
390,  401,  446. 

Dayton,  A.  J.,  Captain,  112. 

Debray,  X.  B.,  Colonel  (C),  318-320  ; 
Brigadier-General,  330,  345. 

Deep  Bottom,  Va.,  361. 

Defiance  (C),  14. 

De  Forest,  James  W.,  Captain,  349. 

De  Kay,   George,  Lieutenant,  killed, 

22. 

Delaware,   1st  battery  (Nields's),  280, 

332. 

Deming,  H.  C.,  Colonel,  15. 
Denslow,  W.  J.,  Captain,  105. 
Department  of  the  Gulf  (see  Gulf}. 
Depots,  Sheridan's,  376. 
Des  Allemands,  La.,  47. 
De  Soto,  La.,  26. 
Devastation  of  the  Shenandoah  Valley, 

371,  375,  403,  404,  409- 

Devin,  Thomas  C.,  Brigadier-General, 
400-402. 

Diana,  46,  48,  73  ;  captured,  88,  89^ 
94,  96,  99,  103,  114  ;  blown  up, 
115,  118,  121. 

Dickey,  Cyrus  E. ,  Captain,  304. 

Dickey,W.  H.,  Colonel,  292,  296,  314. 

Dillingham,  Charles,  Lieutenant-Colo 
nel,  170. 

Disease,  extraordinary  loss  by  climatic, 
187. 

Disorder  on  the  march,  132. 

District  of  West  Florida,  44. 

Divisions  (see  under  Names  of  Com 
manders). 

Dix,  John  A.,  Major-General,  5. 

Donaldson ville,  La.,  46  ;  attack  and 
repulse,  237,  242-246. 

Dowling,  Richard  W.,  Lieutenant 
(C),  272. 

Dow,  Neal,  Brigadier-General,  159, 
177-179,  182,  187,  215. 

Draper,  Gilbert  A.,  Lieutenant-Colo 
nel,  112,  (k)  117. 

Drew,  Charles  W.,  Colonel,  162. 

Dr.  Shipley's  house,  Cedar  Creek,  423. 

Dry  Tortugas,  Fla.,  45,  155. 

Dudley,  N.  A.  M.,  Colonel,  15,  23, 
39,  83,  130,  168,  179,  180,  252, 
288,  296,  297,  302,  304,  306,  328, 
440,  441  ;  at  Plains  Store,  161,  162, 
194. 

Duffie,  A.  N.,  Colonel,  359. 

Duganne,  A.  J.  H.,  Lieutenant-Colo 
nel,  242. 


INDEX. 


Duncan,  J.  K.,  Brigadier-General  (C), 
10,  15. 

Duryea,  Richard  C.,  Captain,  126, 
171,  188,  191,  194,  210,  221,  232, 
267,  280. 

Duval,  H.  F.,  Colonel,  390,  391. 

Dwight,  Charles  C.,  Colonel,  281. 

Dwight,  Howard,  Captain,  murdered, 
145,  146. 

Dwight,  Wilder,  Major,  145. 

Dwight,  William,  Jr.,  Brigadier-Gen 
eral,  57,  102,  105,  107,  108,  no, 
113,  114,  117,  124,  128,  130 
132  ;  summary  execution,  134  ;  to 
Red  River,  144-147,  149  ;  bears 
despatches  to  Grant,  157,  158,  183, 
184  ;  at  Port  Hudson,  166  ;  first 
assault,  169,  171,  172  ;  commands 
Sherman's  division,  187,  188  ;  his 
brigade  falls  to  Morgan,  188  ;  sec 
ond  assault,  194,  199,  200,  215, 
230,  232,  281,  309,  310,  315,  319, 
320  ;  chief  of  staff,  327,  358,  376, 
380-382,  387-390,  393,  394,  398, 
414,  415,  432,  434,  436,  442-445. 

Early,  Jubal  A.,  Lieutenant-General 

(Q,  352,  355-364,  369,  371-380, 

385, 386,  389-392,  394-398, 400-406; 
explains  pretended  Longstreet  mes 
sage,  407-412,  416,  417,  419,  420, 
423-425, 427, 432-434,  438, 440, 441- 

Eastport,  286,  291,  326,  327,  334. 

Edenburg,  Va.,  399. 

Ellen  (C),  transport,  127. 

Ellet,  Alfred  W.,  Lieutenant-Colonel, 
24,  29. 

Ellet,  Charles,  Jr.,  Colonel,  24. 

Ellet,  Charles  R.,  Medical  Cadet,  24, 
29  ;  Colonel,  75,  292. 

Ellet's  rams,  24,  29,  75,  76. 

Ellis's  Cliffs,  Miss.,  22. 

Emerson,  Charles,  Lieutenant,  248. 

Emerson,  Charles  S.,  Lieutenant- 
Colonel,  341. 

Emerson,  Frank,  Colonel,  298-301, 
304- 

Emerson,  William,  Colonel,  425,  426, 
431. 

Emory,  William  H.,  Brigadier-Gen 
eral,  56,  57,  66,  77,  86,  87 ;  in 
Teche  campaign,  88-93  ;  at  Bis- 
land,  92,  93,  95-102,  104,  115,  116, 
119  ;  in  pursuit,  122,  125,  126,  130  ; 
illness,  144 ;  Paine  takes  his  division, 
144  ;  commands  at  New  Orleans, 
159,  203,  233,  237,  238,  246,  248- 
250,  259,  260,  267,  272,  273,  281, 
289,  292,  294,  296,  297,  299,  305, 
307-311,  315,  317,  320,  321,  323, 


327-333  ;  commands  Nineteenth 
Corps,  343-345,  348,  35O,  351,  353, 
354.  Major-General  :  on  the  Poto 
mac,  355-365  ;  in  the  Shenandoah, 
37i,  372,  374-376,  379-394,  397- 
401,  403,  404,  406,  411,  414-427, 
431-437,  439-441  I  bids  farewell  to 
the  Corps,  442,  443. 

Entrenchments  at  every  halt,  376. 

Entwistle,  James,  Captain,  399. 

Erben,  Henry,  Lieutenant,  U.S.N. 
36. 

Ericsson,  transport,  59. 

Essex,  U.  S.  S.,  36,  39,  79,  165,  186, 
248. 

Estrella,  46,  48,  73,  88,  89,  104,  121, 
126,  148,  154,  165,  255. 

Evans,  C.  A.,  Brigadier-General  (C), 
383,  433- 

Everett,  Charles,  Captain,  16,  23,  26, 
27. 

Execution,  summary,  134,  247. 

Fairchild,  Sydney  Smith,  Lieutenant, 
342. 

False  River,  83. 

Faries,  T.  A.,  Captain,  243,  247,  248. 

Farragut,  D.  G.,  Admiral,  5,  9,  12, 
13  ;  passage  of  the  forts,  13,  14  ; 
takes  New  Orleans,  14-16  ;  first 
attempt  on  Vicksburg,  17-22,  24- 
32  ;  runs  batteries  at  Vicksburg,  26  ; 
asks  Halleck  to  help,  27  ;  passes 
Port  Hudson,  76-85,  126,  130,  135, 
136,  152,  165,  182,  229,  230,  243, 
248,  249",  257,  264. 

Fearing,  Hawkes,  Jr.,  Colonel,  169, 
191,  196,  203. 

Ferris,  Samuel  P.,  Colonel,  196. 

Fessenden,  Francis,  Colonel,  318, 
328,  331,  332. 

Fessenden,  James  D.,  Brigadier-Gen 
eral,  442. 

Fighting  line,  the,  at  Cedar  Creek, 
428,  436,  437. 

Fisher's    Hill,    Va  ,    373,    374,    395 
battle  of,  396-400. 

Fiske,  E.  A.,  Captain,  30. 

Fiske,  George  A.,  Jr.,  Lieutenant, 
177. 

Fiske,  W.  O.  Lieutenant-Colonel. 
105,  328,  331. 

Flags  for  corps  headquarters,  103,  440. 

Florida  (C),  57,  58. 

Florida,  West,  District  of,  44. 

Fonda,  John  G.,  Colonel,  277,  288. 

"Foothold  in  Texas,  a,"  264-276, 
280,  282,  283,  348. 

Forlorn  Hope,  Port  Hudson,  212,  213, 
232. 


INDEX. 


515 


Forrest,  N.  B. ,  General  (C),  69. 

Forsyth,  George  A.,  Major,  431. 

Fort  Babcock,  La.,  171,  175. 

Fort  Bisland,  La.,  86,  92-103. 

Fort  Burton,  La.,  126. 

Fort  Butler,  La.,  237,  238,  242-246. 

Fort  DeRussy,  75,  148,  284,  286,  287, 

289,  342,  343. 
Fort  Esperanza,  Tex.,  276. 
Fort  Griffin,  Tex.,  272. 
Fort  Hindman,  295,  339. 
Fort  Jackson,  La.,  6,  7,  10-15,  259. 
Fort  Jefferson,  Fla.,  155,  259. 
Fort  Pickens,  44. 
Fort  Pike,  16. 

Fort  Pillow,  Tenn.,  20,  24,  27. 
Fortress  Monroe,  Va.,  56. 
"Fort  Slaughter,"  Va.,  361. 
Fort  Stevens,  D.  C.,  356,  357. 
Fort  St.  Philip,  La.,  6,  7,  10-15. 
Fort  Taylor,  Fla.,  155,  259. 
Fort  Wood,  1 6. 
Foster,  James  P.,  Lieutenant-Colonel, 

398. 
Fournet,    V.   A.,    Lieutenant-Colonel 

(C),  97,  157- 

France  in  Mexico,  265,  266. 
Franklin,  George  M.,  Captain,  281. 
Franklin,    La.,    102,    104,    107,   109, 

no,  113-116,  120,  278-281. 
Franklin,  William  B.,  Major-General, 

259,   260,  262,   267-269,  271,  273- 

275,  277-279»  281,   288,   289,   294, 

295,  297-300,   303,   305,   307,   311, 

3i6,  330,  338,  343,  366. 
Frederick,  Md.,  363,  364. 
Free  men  of  color  of  Louisiana,  49. 
French,  Peter,  Major,  439. 
Frenier,  La.,  17,  18. 
Fuller,  E.  W.,  Captain  (C),  121. 

Gabaudan,     E.     C.,     Rear- Admiral's 

Secretary,    135. 

Gallway,  A.  P.,  Major,  125,  126. 
Galveston,  T.,  58  ;    abortive  attempt 

on,  62-65,  276. 

Gardiner,  Alexander,  Colonel,  394. 
Gardner,  Frank,    Major-General  (C), 

62,    82,    163-165,     170,    185,    194, 

227-229,  231,  232,  234. 
General  Banks,  transport,  270. 
Gene  see,  79,  81,  165. 
Georgia  Landing,   La.,  battle  of,  46, 

47- 

Georgia,  service  in,  445-447. 
Getty,  George  W.,  Brigadier-General, 

357,  358,  381,  382,  415,  419,  422- 

426,  430,  431,  433. 
Gillmore,  Quincy  A.,   Major-General, 

358. 


Godfrey,  J.  F.,  Captain,  50,  161,  190. 
41  Go  in  !  "  377. 

Gonzales,  Thomas,  Captain,  243. 
Gooding,  O.  P.,  Colonel,  95,  97,  100, 
102,  124,   126,   169,   196,  273,  296, 

312,  316,  328-330. 

Gordon,  John  B.,  Major-General  (C), 
378-380,  383,  384,  386,  387,  391, 
410-412,  416,  417,  420,  421,  423, 
424,  427,  432-434- 

Gordonsville,  Va.,  403,  405,  406,  438, 
442. 

Gould,  John  M.,  Major,  394. 

Graham,  Harvey,  Colonel,  446. 

Grand  Coteau,  La.,  126. 

Grand  Duke  (C),  121. 

Grand  Ecore,   La.,   295  ;   retreat   to, 

313,  314,  323-326  ;    retreat    from, 
326-334. 

Grand  Gulf,  Miss.,  21,  23,  138,  141, 
150. 

Grand  Lake,  La.,  86,  104,  105,  121. 

Grand  Review,  444,  445. 

Grand  River,  La.,  87. 

Granger,  Moses  M.,  Colonel,  426. 

Granite  City,  268-272. 

Grant,  Lewis  A.,  Brigadier-General, 
422,  423,  425. 

Grant,  U.  S.,  Major-General,  54,  61, 
68—71,  75  ;  correspondence  with 
Banks,  84,  135-142,  157,  158,  183, 
184  ;  communication  between  Banks 
and,  129,  130,  135-142,  144,  149- 
151,  157,  158  ;  censured  by  Halleck, 
150,  151  ;  letter  from  Halleck,  183  ; 
first  assault  at  Vicksburg,  184,  205  ; 
second,  205  ;  Vicksburg  surrenders, 
225,  226,  228,  236,  258,  265  ; 
Lieutenant-General,  283,  293,  294, 
313,  326,  334,  342,  347,  351,  352, 
355-357,  36o,  362-366,  369-373, 
376-378,  403,  405,  406,  438,  441, 
444. 

Gray,  Henry,  Colonel  (C),  99,  112, 
117,  288. 

Green,  Thomas,  Colonel  (C),  63,  99, 
101,  109,  114,  115,  124,  125,  157, 
239-243,  245,  246,  251-253,  273, 
275,  277,  278  ;  Brigadier-General, 
290,  296,  297,  299-301,  306,  315, 
318,  324-326. 

Gregg,  John,  Brigadier-General  (C), 
164. 

Grierson,  B.  H.,  Colonel,  arrives  at 
Baton  Rouge,  143  ;  raid,  143,  144  ; 
at  Plains  Store,  161,  162  ;  Brigadier- 
General,  at  Port  Hudson,  160-162, 
186,  189-191,  215. 

Grover,  Cuvier,  Brigadier-General,  57, 
61,  66,  77  ;  in  Teche  campaign,  88- 


Si6 


INDEX. 


93,  100,  101  ;  at  Irish  Bend,  104- 
120  ;  in  pursuit,  122-125,  I29  J 
inarch  to  Red  River,  144,  148  ;  to 
Port  Hudson,  152,  153,  159,  160, 
166  ;  first  assault,  168,  169,  171, 
172,  174,  175,  187  ;  commands  right 
wing,  second  assault,  194,  196- 
199,  229,  232  ;  at  Kock's  planta 
tion,  251-254,  256,  259,  260,  273, 
277,  281,  289,  292,  327,  349,  350, 
353  ;  at  the  Opequon,  365,  375, 
381,  383,  384,  387,  389,  390,  393, 
398,  414,  417,  418,  421,  423,  432, 
436,  442,  445-447. 
Grow,  John  A.,  Captain,  238,  239, 

315. 

Gulf,  Department  of  the,  organiza 
tion,  7,  8,  66,  67  ;  extended,  44  ; 
reinforcements  for,  45,  49-51,  56, 
5-7,  280  ;  sickness,  50  ;  strength,  50, 
51,  67,  158,  258,  259,  261,  266,  267, 
292. 

Haley,  E.  D.,  Lieutenant,  92,  171, 
421. 

Halleck,  H.  W.,  Major-General,  19, 
20,  26  ;  unable  to  help,  27  ;  prom 
ises  reinforcements,  51,  82  ;  cor 
respondence  with  Grant,  139;  with 
Banks,  139 ;  censures  Grant  and 
Banks,  150,  151  ;  congratulation, 
256,  258  ;  Mobile  and  Texas,  264, 
265  ;  Texas,  264-276,  280,  282, 
283  ;  Red  River,  282,  283,  293, 
363,  364,  405. 

Halleck's  army,  communication  with, 
17,  19,  20,  27. 

Halltown,  W.  Va.,  363,  365,  366, 
371,  373,  374- 

Hamill,  Henry,  private,  summarily 
executed,  134. 

Hamilton,  A.  J.,  military  governor, 
62-64. 

Hampton  Roads,  Va.,  56,  57,  352 

Hancock,  WinfieldS.,  Major-General, 
361,  442,  443. 

Hardeman,  W.    P.,  Colonel  (C),  244, 

343; 

Harding,  Henry  A.,  Lieutenant,  219. 
Harper's    Ferry,    W.   Va.,    363,    365, 

366,  371. 

Harper  s  Weekly,  368. 
Harriet  Lane,  62,  64,  287. 
Harrisonburg,  La.,  286. 
Harrisonburg,  Va.,  402. 
Harrison,  Isaac  F.,  Colonel  (C),  344. 
Harrison,  N.  B.,  Lieutenant  U.S.N., 

36. 

Harris,  T.  M.,  Colonel,  410,  416. 
Hart,  afterward  Stevens  (C),  122. 


Hartford,  5,  9,  13,  21,  24,  26,  79-84, 
136,  138,  165,  225,  226. 

Harwood,  Franklin,  Lieutenant,  150, 
159- 

Haskin,  William  L.,  Lieutenant,  345. 

Hatter  as,  58. 

Hayes,  R.  B.,  Brigadier-General, 
359,  414,  415,  418,  419. 

Headquarters  flags,  103,  440. 

Hebard,  G.  T.,  Captain,  267,  316. 

Helm,  Bernard  H.,  Brigadier-Gen 
eral  (C),  35,  38. 

Henderson's  Hill,  La.,  affair  of,  290. 

Hermitage,  La.,  83,  165. 

Herron,  Francis  J.,  Major-General, 
258,  273. 

Hersey,  A.  J.,  Captain,  216. 

Hesseltine,  Frank  S.,  Lieutenant- 
Colonel,  276. 

Hill,  R.  M.,  Lieutenant,  60. 

Hinkle,  W.  S.,  Captain,  332. 

Hodge,  Justin,  Colonel,  219 

Hoffman,  Wickham,  Major,  262. 

Holabird,  S.  B.,  Colonel,  60,  248. 

Holcomb,  P.  E.,  Captain,  161,  260, 
261. 

Holcomb,  Richard  E.,  Colonel,  49, 
105-107  ;  wounded,  182  ;  killed, 

202. 

Hollyhock,  241,  254. 

Holly  Springs,  Miss.,  69. 

Holmes,  C.  E.  L.,  Colonel,  237,  238. 

Hotchkiss,  Jed,  Major  (C),  410. 

Houston,  D.  C.,  Major,  60,  150,  186, 

189,  223. 
Hubbard,  John  B.,  Captain,   89,   90  ; 

killed,  182. 

Hubbard,  N.  H.,  Colonel,  in. 
Hubbard,  Thomas  H.,  Colonel,  332 
Hudson  (Miss.)  Battery  (C),  35. 
Hunter,  David,    Major-General,  334, 

352,  358,  359,  36i,  364-366,  371. 
Hunter,  Sherrod,  Major  (C),  240,  241. 
Hunt,  T.  H.,  Colonel  (C),  38. 
Hupp's  Hill,  Va.,  405,  406,  416,  417. 
Hutchens,  John  B.,  341. 

Iberia,  La.  (see  New  Iberia). 

Iberville,  transport,  247. 

Illinois,    Chicago   Mercantile   battery 

(Cone's),  304,  306. 

2d  cavalry,  302. 

6th  cavalry,  143,  189,  190. 

7th  cavalry,  143,  189,  191,  222. 

1 2th  cavalry,  280. 

n8th,  276. 

Imperial,  transport,  256. 

Indiana,  8th,  350,  446. 

nth,   350;   at  Opequon,   386, 

398,  401. 


INDEX. 


517 


Indiana,  i6th,  316. 

i 8th,  446. 

2ist,    6,     15,    22  ;    at    Baton 

Rouge,  36-38,   43,   44,  67,   73  (see 
also  \st  Indiana  Heavy  Artillery). 

46th,  278. 

6oth,  277. 

ist  heavy  artillery,  67,  78,  89  ; 


at  Bisland,  96,  99  ;  at  Port  Hudson, 
186,  211,  212  ;  at  Brashear,  237, 
238,  240,  332  (see  also  2,1st  Indiana 
Infantry). 

ist  battery  (Klauss's),  304,  306. 

i yth    battery   (Miner's),    365, 


421. 


22d  battery,  446. 
Brown's  battery,  36,  43. 


Indian  Bend,  La.,  87,  104-120. 

Indianola,  ram,  75  ;  sunk  and  cap 
tured,  76,  287. 

Indian  Village,  La.,  87. 

Ingraham,  Timothy,  Colonel,  92  ;  at 
Bisland,  98,  101,  102  ;  in  pursuit, 
125,  126,  186,  196. 

Inwood,  Henry  C.,  Captain,  281,  354, 

439- 

Iowa,  I4th,  318. 
22d,   350  ;   at  Opequon,   385  ; 

at  Cedar  Creek,  418. 
24th,  350,  446. 


28th,  350;  at  Fisher's  Hill,  399, 

446. 

Irish  Bend,  battle  of,  104-120. 

Iroquois,  13,  21,  25,  26. 

Irwin,  Richard  B.,  Lieutenant-Colo 
nel,  60,  180,  195,  228,  229. 

Itasca,  13,  14,  46. 

Ivy,  tugboat,  144. 

Jackson,  C.  M.,  Major  (C),  234. 

Jackson,  Miss.,  7. 

Jackson,  "  Stonewall,"  Lieutenant- 
General  (C),  369. 

Jeannerette,  La.,  116,  122. 

Jenkins,  Thornton  A.,  Captain,  U.S. 
N.,  247,  248. 

Johnson,  Amos,  Acting  Master,  62, 
268. 

Johnson,  Bradley  T.,  Brigadier-Gen 
eral  (C),  362. 

Johnson,  E.  D.,  Colonel,  211. 

Johnston,  Joseph  E.,  General  (C), 
165,  215,  234. 

Jones,  E.  F.,  Colonel,  15. 

Katahdin,  13,  36,  39,  46. 
Kearneysville,  Va.,  375,  376. 
Keifer,  J.  Warren,  Colonel,  384,  415, 

419,  422,  423,  425-427. 
Keith,  John  A.,  Colonel,  36. 


Kell,  J.  M.,  Lieutenant,  C.S.N.,  58. 
Kenly,    John    R.,    Brigadier-General, 

360. 

Kennebec,  13,  14. 
Kenner,  La.,  17,  18. 
Kensel,  G.  A.,  Captain,  8. 
Kentucky,  igth  (U),  301. 

Cobb's  battery,  35. 

troops  (C),  3d,  35. 

Kernstown,  Va.,  Crook's  fight,  361  ; 

winter  quarters,  440,  441. 
Kershaw,  J.  B.,   Major-General  (C), 

373,  374,  378,  402,  404,  406,  411, 

416-420,  423,  424,  427,  432,  434, 

441. 
Key  West,  Fla.,  44,  45  ;  transferred 

to    Department    of  the  Gulf,    155, 

258. 

Kimball,  John  W.,  Colonel,  124. 
Kimball,  W.  K.,  Colonel,   108,  no, 

114,  125,  126,  187,  198. 
Kineo,  13,  21,  36,  39,  46,  79-81,  243, 

245,  248. 
Kinsey,    W.    B.,   Lieutenant-Colonel, 

309,  341. 

Kinsman,  46,  48,  73. 
Kitching,  J.    Howard,  Colonel,  416, 

419,  436. 

Klauss,  Martin,  Captain,  304,  306. 
Knowlton,  William,  Major,  394. 
Koch's  plantation,  La.,  251-253. 
Kock's  plantation,  La.,  251-253. 

Labadieville,  La.,  46. 

Lafayette,  144,  148. 

La  Fayette,  La.  (see  Vermilionville). 

La  Fourche  Crossing,  La.,  47  ;  affair, 
238,  239,  242. 

La  Fourche,  District  of,  48,  49. 

La  Fourche,  occupied,  45-50 ;  opera 
tions  in,  85  ;  Taylor's  raid,  213- 
215,  229,  235-255. 

La  Grange,  Miss.,  143. 

Lake  Chicot,  La.,  87,  121. 

Lamson,  C.  W.,  Acting  Master,  268. 

Lancaster,  Ellet   ram,  29. 

Landram,  W.  J.,  Colonel,  288,  298, 
299,  301,  304,  305,  311. 

Lane,  W.  P.,  Colonel  (C),  243,  297, 

343- 
Langthorne,    Amos    R.,    Lieutenant, 

U.S.N.,  341. 

Laurel  Hill,  transport,  21,  272. 
Lawler,    M.    K.,    Brigadier- General, 

258,  274,  277,  342-345,  348,  350. 
Law,  R.  L.,  Commander,  62. 
Lawson's  Ferry,  La.,  149. 
Lee,     Albert    L.,     Brigadier-General 

258,    280,  288-290,    292,    294-299, 

301-303,  308,  310-312,  314,  351. 


INDEX. 


Lee,  Fitzhugh,  Major-Gen eral  (C), 
373,  375-377,  387,  391,  394,  400. 

Lee,  Robert  E.,  General  (C),  367, 
368,  372,  376,  377,  402,  404,  441, 

443- 

Lee,  S.  Phillips,  Commander,  U.S.N., 
18. 

Lewis,  Charles,  Major,  398. 

Lexington,  295,  326,  339. 

Liddell,  St.  John  R.,  Brigadier-Gen 
eral  (C),  325,  326. 

Lieber,  G.  N.,  Major,  60. 

Lincoln,   Abraham,    52,    53,    56,   249, 

294,  443- 

Little  Rock,  Ark.,  284,  292. 
Livingston,  Confederate  gunboat,  29. 
Locke,  M.  B.,  Lieutenant-Colonel  (C), 

159. 
Lockwood,  H.  H.,  Brigadier-General, 

5- 
Logan,   John    L.,    Colonel   (C),    189- 

191,  215,  216. 
Loggy  Bayou,  La.,  324. 
Lomax,    L.    L.,    Major-General   (C), 

382,  383,  399,  400,  402,  412,  422, 

432,  436. 
Longstreet,    James,    Lieutenant-Gen- 

eral  (C),   pretended  message  from, 

407,  408,  422,  430,  432. 
Louisiana  (C),  10,  14. 
Louisiana,    Northern,    operations    in, 

236. 
Louisiana    troops   (U),    1st    infantry, 

49,  73  ;  at  Irish  Bend,  105-107,  114, 

117  ;    at    Port    Hudson,    182,    202, 

247  ;  at  Cane  River,  328,  331. 
2d  infantry,    44,    49,    83  ;    at 

Port     Hudson,      180,      187,      232  ; 

mounted,    280. 
ist   cavalry,   45,   49,    73  ;    at 

Irish  Bend,  107,   no,  154  ;  at  Port 

Hudson,  161,  189,  190,  238,  252. 
Louisiana  Native  Guards  (U),  ist,  48, 

49  ;  at  Port  Hudson,  162,  166,  172- 

174,  213- 

2d,  49. 

3d,  49,   78  ;   at  Port  Hudson, 

162,  166,  172-174,  213. 
—  4th,  162. 

ist  engineers,  219,  261,  275. 

2d,  261. 

ist  heavy  artillery,  261. 

Louisiana  troops  (C),  4th,  35,  38,  233. 

i8th,  46,  97. 

28th,  99,  112. 

33d,  46. 

Clack's  battalion,  109,110,113. 

Fournet's  (loth)  battalion,  97, 

157- 
Miles's  Legion,  161,  162. 


173- 


166. 


Louisiana  Crescent  regiment,  46. 

La  Fourche  regiment,  47. 

St.  Charles  regiment,  47. 

St.  John  Baptist  regiment,  47. 

Terre  Bonne  regiment,  46. 

Boone's  battery,  161,  162. 

-   Cornay's    battery,    102,    105, 

106,  109,  in,  113,  247. 

Edgar's  battery,  290. 

Faries's  battery,  247,  248. 

Ralston's  battery,  46. 

Semmes's  battery,  35,   36,  99, 

247. 
heavy  artillery,  I2th  battalion, 

2d  cavalry,  46,  105-109,  290. 
Wingfield's    (gth)    battalion, 

Scott's  cavalry,  35. 

Louisiana,   Western,   early  operations 

in,  44,  46,  48,  72. 
Love,  George  M.,  Colonel,  267. 
Lovell,  Mansfield,  Major-General  (C), 

10,  16,  19,  25. 
Lowell,  Charles  Russell,  Colonel,  402, 

436- 
Lucas,  Thomas  J.,  Colonel,  290,  296, 

297,  299,  301,  303,  306,  316,  328. 
Lull,  Oliver  W.,  Lieutenant-Colonel, 

killed,  182,  203. 
Luray  Valley,  Va.,  370,  397,  400,  401, 

412. 

Lynch,  W.  F.,  Colonel,  287,  319,  320. 
Lynn,  J.  W.,  Captain,  killed,  30. 
Lyon,  David,  Lieutenant,  281. 

McCausland,  John,  Brigadier-General 
(C),  262-367. 

McClellan,  George  B.,  Major-General, 
3,  6,  7,  17- 

McClernand,  John  A.,  Major-Gen 
eral,  54,  6p,  68-71;  138,  342,  343. 

McClernand's  expedition,  54,  60,  68— 

71. 

McCollin,  A.  W.,  Sergeant,  161. 

McCrea(C),  14. 

McGinnis,  George  F.,  Brigadier-Gen 
eral,  273,  277. 

McKennon,    A.    S.,    Lieutenant   (C), 

221. 

McKerrall's plantation,  La.,  109,  no. 

McMillan,  J.  W.,  Colonel,  99  ;  Briga 
dier-General,  260,  266,  273,  281, 
309,  310,  315,  320,  328,  331,  333, 
343,  350,  36o,  381,  382,  388,  394, 
398,  415,  417,  423,  432-434,  442. 

McPherson,  James  B.,  Major-General, 
138,  205,  292. 

McWilliams's  plantation,  La.,  Dun 
can,  107. 


INDEX. 


519 


Macauley,  Daniel,  Colonel,  398,  401, 
414,  417,  421. 

Mack,  Albert  G.,  Captain,  78,  98. 

Madisonville,  La.,  occupied,  281. 

Magee,  James  M.,  Captain,  83. 

Magee's  Point,  La.,  105. 

Magruder,  J.  B.,  Major-General,  63, 
149,  235,  266,  275. 

Maine,  I2th,  44  ;  at  Irish  Bend,  114  ; 
at  Port  Hudson,  172,  232. 

I3th,  in  Texas,  275,  276,  337. 

I4th,  at  Baton  Rouge,  36-38, 

43  ;  at  Port  Hudson,  177,  199,  213, 
232. 

1 5th,  8  ;  in  Texas,  275,  276  ; 

in  Virginia,  360. 

2ist,  at  Port  Hudson,  179,  180, 

211,  221,  257. 

22d,  at  Irish  Bend,  107,  114, 

127,  155  ;  at  Port  Hudson,  187, 
192,  257. 

24th,  at  Port  Hudson,  177,  257. 

26th,  at  Irish  Bend,  in,  112, 

114,  155  ;  at  Port  Hudson,  187  ;  at 
La  Fourche  Crossing,  238,  257. 

28th,  at  Port  Hudson,  214, 

238  ;  at  Donaldsonville,  242-247  ; 
murder,  246  ;  execution,  247. 

2gth,  280  ;  at  Sabine  Cross- 
Roads,  309  ;  at  Pleasant  Hill,  319  ; 
dam,  341,  357  ;  Opequon,  382,  394, 
441. 

30th,  280  ;  at  Pleasant  Hill, 

318  ;  at  Cane  River,  331,  332. 

ist  battery,  45,  73  ;  at  Bisland, 

92,  95,  98,  102,  127  ;  at  Port  Hud 
son,  171,  252,  253,  267,  365  ;  at 
Opequon,  385,  395  ;  at  Cedar  Creek, 
421. 

Major,  James  P.,  Brigadier-General 
(C),  236,  237,  239,  242,  243,  251, 
297,  302,  303,  317,  319,  329,  330, 

343,  344- 

Manning,  Charles  H.,  Captain,  15. 

Mansfield,  La.,  298-312. 

Mansura,  La. ,  affair  on  the  plains  of, 

344,  345- 
Marauding,  132. 

March,  disorders  on  the,  133. 
Marksville,  La.,  affair  near,  344. 
Marland,    Edward,    Lieutenant,    277, 

A..Q 

-  /O. 

Martinsburg,  W.  Va.,  366,  378. 
Maryland,  brigade  (U),  Kenly's,  360. 

(U),  3d  cavalry,  280. 

Picnic  into,  368. 

Mary  T.  (C),  121. 

Massachusetts,  4th,  at  Bisland,   101  ; 

after,    127  ;  at   Port   Hudson,    186, 

196,  257. 


Massachusetts,  26th,  15  ;  at  La  Fourche 
Crossing,  238,  239  ;  re-enlisted  vet 
erans,  280  ;  at  Opequon,  394. 

3Oth,  15,  16,  22,  30  ;  at  Baton 

Rouge,  36,  37  ;  at  Port  Hudson, 
194,  353,  357  J  Opequon,  382,  390. 
3ist,  15,  16  ;  at  Bisland, 


at  Port  Hudson,  196,  197  ;  mounted, 
281,  302. 

—  38th,  77  ;  at  Bisland,  98,  102  ; 


at  Port  Hudson,  196,  197,  232  ;  at 

Cane    River,     327,     328,    331  ;    at 

Opequon,    390. 
4 ist,  77,  155  ;  mounted,  as  3d 

cavalry,  186,  187. 
42d,    at    Galveston,     62-65  ; 

pontonier      detachment,     219  ;     at 

La    Fourche    Crossing,     238  ;      at 

Brashear,     241,     249. 

47th,  238. 

48th,  at  Plains  Store,  162  ;  at 

Port  Hudson,  180,  194. 
49th,  at  Plains  Store,  162  ;  at 

Port  Hudson,  180. 

—  50th,  at  Port  Hudson,  194,  257. 
52d,    155  ;    at    Port    Hudson, 

187,  191,  257. 
53d,  at  Bisland,    98  ;   at   Port 

Hudson,  196. 

2cl  battery  (Nims),    6,    8,    22, 


23,  26  ;  at  Baton  Rouge,  36,  37  ;  at 
Irish  Bend,  no,  124,  132,  155  ;  at 
Port  Hudson,  171,  190,  251  ;  at 
Bayou  Bourbeau,  277,  278,  280,  302. 

4th  battery  (Manning,  Trull), 

16  ;  at  Baton  Rouge,  36,  37,  267. 
6th  battery  (Everett,  Carruth), 


16,  17,  21-23,  26  ;  at  Baton  Rouge,' 
36,  45,  73  ;  at  Bisland,  98  ;  at  Port 
Hudson,  161,  171,  237,  252,  253. 

7th  battery  (Storer),  280. 

cavalry,  2d  battalion,  16,  22, 

45,  83  ;  merged  in  3d,  186,  190. 

cavalry,  3d,  formerly  4ist  in 
fantry,  1 86,  189,  190,  260,  302  ; 
dismounted :  at  Opequon,  386  ;  at 
Cedar  Creek,  418. 

Massanutten  Mountains,  Va.,  369,  396. 

Matagorda,  Texas,  276. 

Matthews,  Oliver,  Lieutenant,  105. 

Maxey,  S.  B.,  Brigadier-General  (C), 
164,  165. 

Meade,  George  G.,  Major-General, 
366,  444- 

Meade's  plantation,  Madame,  86,  94. 

Memphis  taken,  24,  25. 

Merritt,  Robert  B.,  Colonel,  260,  267. 

Merritt,  Wesley,  Brigadier-General, 
375,  379.  390,  39*.  4O2,  406-409, 
415,  423,  425,  431,  432,  436. 


520 


INDEX. 


Merry,  Benj.  G.,  Major,  221. 

Mexico,  France  in,  265,  266. 

Miami ',  25. 

Michigan,  6th,  6,  16,  17,  21,  22  ;  at 
Baton  Rouge,  36-38,  73  ;  at  Port 
Hudson,  177,  188,  199,  232  ;  be 
comes  1st  Michigan  heavy  artillery, 
260. 

1st  heavy  artillery  (previously 

6th  Michigan  infantry),  260. 

Middle  Military  Division,  366,  442. 

Middletown,  Va.,  421-425. 

Mieres, ,  private  (C)  221. 

Miles,  W.  R.,  Colonel  (C),  161,  162, 
230. 

Military  Division  of  West  Mississippi, 

347. 

Military  telegraphs,  138. 

Miller's  Point,  La.,  105. 

Milliken's  Bend  affair,  236. 

Miner,  M.  L.,  Captain,  365. 

Mississippi,  13,  15,  79-81. 

transport,  353,  357. 

Mississippi,  opening  the,  3-31,  52-255. 

troops  (C),  39th,  173. 

Hudson's  battery,  35. 

Missouri  troops  (U),  24th,  318,  319. 

6th  cavalry,  301,  306,  316. 

division  (C)  (see  Parsons], 

Mobile,  Ala.,  7,  44,  264,  265,  267, 
282,  293,  313,  351,  352,  354- 

Molineux,  E.  L.,  Colonel,  Hi  (w), 
112,  117,  262,  289,  350,  361,  365, 
381,  384-386,  389,  390,  393,  398, 
400,  401,  414,  417,  418,  420,  421, 
432,  434,  446. 

Monarch,  ram,  24,  29. 

Monett's  Ferry,  La.,  295  ;  crossing 
and  battle,  328-333. 

Monongahela,  79-81,  165,  248,  249. 

Moore,  F.  W.,  Colonel,  350. 

Moore's  cavalry  brigade,  408. 

Moore,  Thomas,  O.,  Governor,  en 
rolls  colored  troops,  49,  147. 

Moore,  Webster  P.,  Colonel,  203. 

Moreauville,  La.,  affair  at,  345. 

Morgan,  Joseph  S.,  Colonel,  155-157, 
188,  192,  198,  251-253. 

Morgan,  Morgan,  Jr.,  Major,  239. 

Morganza,  La.,  83,  348,  351. 

Mortar  boats,  9,  12,  22,  25,  27,  79, 
165,  182. 

Mound  City,  341. 

Mount  Crawford,  Va.,  403. 

Mounted  infantry,  280. 

Mount  Jackson,  Va.,  401. 

Mouton,  Alfred,  Brigadier-General  (C), 
46-48,  86,  87,  97,  114,  115,  128,  129, 
131,  156,  235,  240,  242,  245,  273, 
275,  287,  288,  300,  302-304,  311. 


Mower,  Joseph  A.,  Brigadier-General, 
285,  287,  290,  315-320,  323,  324, 
328,  344-347- 

Mudd,  John  J.,  Colonel,  258,  277. 

Murch,  Isaac,  Lieutenant,  245. 

Mustang  Island,  Texas,  276, 

Napoleon  III.,  schemes  of,  265,  266. 

Natchez,  Miss.,  18,  22  ;  occupied,  258. 

Natchitoches,  La.,  295. 

Navy  (C),  10,  14. 

Navy  Department,  3,  6,  22. 

Navy,  U.  S.,  at  New  Orleans,  3,  5,  7, 
9,  17,  20  ;  occupies  Pensacola  Har 
bor,  45  ;  at  Vicksburg,  24,  31,  75  ; 
at  Baton  Rouge,  36-39,  61  ;  La 
Fourche,  46-48  ;  Galveston,  62-65  ; 
Cotton  (C),  73,  74  ;  below  Vicks 
burg,  75,  76  ;  passage  of  Port  Hud 
son,  76-84  ;  Teche,  88-91,  100 ; 
Grand  Lake,  104,  105,  121,  122, 
126,  128  ;  Red  River,  144,  148, 
149,  152,  154  ;  holds  Baton  Rouge, 
162 ;  siege  of  Port  Hudson,  165, 
182,  186,  189,  192,  2ii,  230, 
232 ;  La  Fourche  raid,  214,  229 ; 
Brashear,  241,  254,  255  ;  Donald- 
sonville,  243-245  ;  below  Donald- 
sonville,  247-249  ;  at  Sabine  Pass, 
267-272  ;  in  Red  River,  283-289, 
291,  295,  312,  324-327,  334  ;  peril 
and  rescue,  337~34i  ',  343,  345- 

Neafie,  Alfred,  Lieutenant-Colonel, 
390,  421,  432. 

Neal,  Edward  B.,  Captain,  242. 

Negroes,  arming  the,  43,  49  ;  treat 
ment  of,  40,  43. 

Nelson,  John  A.,  Colonel,  162,  166, 
172,  173. 

Neos ho,  295,  339. 

Neptune  (C),  64. 

Nerson's  Woods,  La.,  109,  no;  bat 
tle  of  (C),  104-120. 

New  Falls  City,  transport  (C),  325. 

New  Hampshire,  8th,  16,  43-45,  73  ; 
at  Bisland,  95,  96,  98  ;  at  Port 
Hudson,  196,  197,  202,  203,  232  ; 
mounted,  280,  302. 

I4th,  280 ;  at  Opequon,  394. 

1 5th,  at  Port  Hudson,  177, 

200. 

i6th,  126,  127,  186,  187,  257. 

New  Iberia,  La.,  86,  109,  115,  122- 
124,  144,  276. 

New  London,  248. 

New  Market,  Va.,  397,  401. 

New  Orleans,  importance  of,  3-5  ; 
capture  of,  3-16  ;  Confederate 
plans  for  recapture,  33,  44,  46,  249, 
250;  defences  of,  159,  237,249,  250. 


INDEX. 


521 


Newtown,  Va.,  412. 

New  York,  6th,  at  Santa  Rosa  Island, 

45  ;  at  Irish  Bend,    105,  107,  114; 

joins    Paine,    153  ;    mustered    out, 

158. 
75th,  45,  73,   74  ;  at  Bisland, 

98,  99,  147  ;  at  Port  Hudson,  170, 

175,    198,    232,    268,    269,     271  ; 

mounted,    280   ;      dismounted :     at 

Opequon,  394. 

goth,  155,  156  ;  at  Port  Hud 


son,  187,  353,  357- 

gist,   at  Irish  Bend,    114  ;    at 


Port  Hudson,  191,  198. 

noth,   at  Bisland,   101,    157  ; 

at  Port  Hudson,  160,  165,  237. 

ii4th,  73  ;  at  Bisland,  98,  99, 


155-157  ;  at  Port  Hudson,  1 86,  198, 
202  ;  at  Pleasant  Hill,  319,  353, 
357  ;  Opequon,  381,  387,  388,  390, 
394  ;  at  Cedar  Creek,  420,  421,  435, 

445- 

n6th,    77  ;    at   Plains  Store, 

162  ;  at  Port  Hudson,  180,  228, 
232 ;  at  Pleasant  Hill,  319  ;  at 
Cane  River,  332,  333,  353,  357  ; 
Opequon,  381,  390,  445. 

1 28th,   at   Port  Hudson,   177, 


199,  200  ;  at  Cane  River,  328,  329, 
331  ;  at  Fisher's  Hill,  398,  446. 

1 3 ist,    at    Irish   Bend,    114  ; 


shooting  of  Hamill,  134,  159;  at 
Port  Hudson,  192,  214  ;  at  Opequon, 
I3i,  385,  386,  390. 

I33d,  at   Bisland,   95,   98  ;  at 

Port  Hudson,  197,  203  ;  dam,  341, 

445- 

I53d,  280,   310 ;    at  Pleasant 

Hill,  319,  353  ;  Opequon,  381,  382, 
388,  390  ;  at  Cedar  Creek,  420,  421. 

I56th,  at  Cedar  Creek,  421. 

I59th,  at  Irish  Bend,  107,  in, 

112,  114,  117  ;  at  Port  Hudson, 
170  ;  at  Opequon,  385. 

i6oth,  73  ;  at  Bisland,  98  ;  at 

Port  Hudson,  170,  198,  213  ;  Ope 
quon,  382,  388,  390. 

i6ist,   at  Port   Hudson,   194, 

268  ;  at  Sabine  Cross-Roads,  309  ; 
at  Pleasant  Hill,  319  ;  dam,  341. 

i62d,  at  Bisland,  101,  127  ;  at 

Port  Hudson,  160,  165,  188  ;  at 
Cane  River,  331,  332. 

165,  at  Port  Hudson,  177  ;  at 


Cane  River,  331,  332. 
i73d,  78  ;  at  Bisland,  95,  98  ; 

in   pursuit,    125,   159;    at  Pleasant 

Hill,  318  ;  at  Cane  River,  331,  332. 
1 74th,  83  ;    at  Port  Hudson, 

194. 


New  York,  I75th,  78  ;  at  Bisland,  92, 
95,  98,  127  ;  at  Port  Hudson,  188. 

1 76th,  at  La  Fourche  Crossing, 

237-239  ;  at  Brashear,  240,  241  ;  at 
Bayou  Ramos  and  Bayou  Boeuf, 
241,  242,  258  ;  at  Opequon,  386  ;  at 
Fisher's  Hill,  398,  399  ;  at  Cedar 
Creek,  421. 

1 77th,  at  Port  Hudson,  177. 

New     York     artillery,     5th     battery 
(Taft),  365,  398,  421. 

1 8th    battery  (Mack),    78  ;  at 


Bisland,  98  ;  at  Port  Hudson,  161. 

2 ist  battery  (Barnes),  260. 

25th  battery  (Grow),  238,  239, 


315,  319,  332. 
New  York  cavalry,  2d  veteran,  280, 

333- 

nth,  280. 

I4th,  189,  260,  277,  316,  324. 

i8th,  280. 

Nichols,  William  H.,  Captain  (C), 
156,  247. 

Nickerson,  F.  S.,  Brigadier-General, 
159,  177-179,  187,  188,  200,  260, 
266,  281,  289,  327. 

Nields,  Benjamin,  Captain,  280. 

Nims,  Ormand  F.,  Captain,  23,  26, 
27,  37,  no,  124,  132,  154,  171,  190, 
196,  251,  277,  278,  280,  301,  304- 
306. 

Nine  months' regiments,  56,  257,  258. 

Nineteenth  Army  Corps,  organized, 
66,  67  ;  flags,  103  ;  strength,  158, 
274,  292  ;  reorganized,  258-260  ; 
marches  to  Opelousas,  273-275  ; 
winters  at  Franklin,  La.,  277-281  ; 
veteran  re-enlistments,  279,  280  ; 
new  regiments,  280 ;  second  reor 
ganization,  281  ;  staff,  281  ;  Emory 
commands,  343  ;  as  marine  patrol 
or  coast  guard,  349  ;  third  reorgan 
ization,  349-350  ;  3d  division, 
Lawler,  350,  351,  353,  354;  Butler 
asks  for,  352  ;  to  the  James,  351- 
354  ;  staff,  354  ;  the  Potomac,  355- 
365  ;  the  Shenandoah,  365-443  ; 
strength,  362,  365  ;  remnant  in 
Louisiana  broken  up,  439  ;  new 
corps  staff,  439  ;  badge,  440;  new 
flags,  440  ;  last  man  wounded,  441  ; 
corps  organization  discontinued, 
442  ;  breaking  up,  445-447. 

Noblett,  F.  W.,  Captain,  237. 

Norris,  Hardman  P.,  Lieutenant, 
125. 

North  Carolina,  service  in,  445,  446. 

Northern  Column,  communication 
with,  17,  19,  20,  27,  68-71  ;  col 
lapses,  68-71. 


522 


INDEX. 


North  Star,  transport,  59. 
Nott,  Charles  C.,  Colonel,  237. 

Oak  Lawn,  La.,  105,  107,  109,  120. 
O'Brien,   James,   Lieutenant-Colonel, 

leads stormers,  180  ;  killed,  182,  230. 
Octorara,  25,  27. 
Odium,    Frederick   H.,    Captain  (C), 

272. 
Ohio,  s6th,  343. 

g6th,  277. 

1 20th,  343. 

ist  artillery,   battery   L,   358, 


365- 


1 7th  battery,  277. 


Old  Forge  road,   Cedar  Creek,  423- 

425  ;    line  of   battle  on,    423-425, 

427. 

Oltman,  J.  G.,  Captain,  281. 
Oneida,  13,  18,  20,  25. 
Opelousas,  La.,  86,  121-135,  I4I»  J44- 
Opequon,  battle  of  the,  378-395. 
Opequon  Creek,  Va.,  370,   371,  378, 

380. 
Ord,   E.   O.  C.,  Major-General,  273- 

276. 

Osage,  295,  326,  339. 
Owasco,  62,  64. 

Page  Valley,  Va.,  370. 
Paincourtville,  La.,   fight  near,   251- 

253- 

Paine,  Charles  J.,  Colonel,  49,  83, 
187,  188,  194,  227,  228,  252  ;  com 
mands  Emory's  division,  144  ;  near 
Alexandria,  148  ;  march  to  Port 
Hudson,  152,  153,  159,  160,  166  ; 
first  assault,  169-171,  174,  186-188  ; 
expedition  to  Clinton,  191  ;  leads 
second  assault,  196-198  ;  wounded, 
197  ;  Brigadier-General,  201  ;  loses 
leg,  201  ;  character,  201,  203,  232. 

Paine,  Halbert  E.,  Colonel,  16,  23, 
24,  40 ;  character,  40 ;  commands 
at  Baton  Rouge,  40-42  ;  commands 
reserve  brigade,  43  ;  commands  ist 
brigade,  Sherman's  division,  43  ;  at 
Bisland,  92,  93,  95-98,  100-102  ; 
in  pursuit,  125,  126,  130,  131. 

Palfrey,  John  C.,  Captain,  223,  224, 

337- 

Palmer,  James  S.,  Commander,  21  ; 
Commodore,  138,  152,  165,  225, 

243- 

Parker,  J.  W.,  private  (C),  221. 
Parmele,  T.  W.,  Colonel,  83. 
Parrott,  E.  G.,  Commander,  57. 
Parsons,    M.    M.,    Brigadier-General 

(C),  300,  302,   314,   315,   317,   319, 

320. 


Pass  Manchac,  17,  18. 

Pattersonville,  La.,  91. 

Payne's  cavalry  brigade  (C),  412. 

Pearsall,  Uri  B.,  Lieutenant-Colonel, 
34L 

Peck,  Frank  H.s  Lieutenant-Colonel, 
170,  255,  389,  394. 

Pegram,  John,  Brigadier-General  (C), 
411,  424,  427. 

Pemberton,  J.  C.,  Lieutenant-General 
(C),  144,  164,  165. 

Pennsylvania,  47th,  155,  357  ;  Ope 
quon,  382,  388,  390. 

Pensacola,  13,  243. 

Pensacola,  7,  44  ;  occupied,  45. 

Perkins,  Solon  A.,  Lieutenant,  45, 
90,  125  ;  killed,  190,  191. 

Per  Lee,  S.  R.,  Colonel,  155,  387, 
388. 

Perry,  C.  E.,  private,  18. 

Petersburg,  Va.,  360,  361,  365. 

Petersen,  J.  L.,  Acting  Master,  89. 

Petit  Anse,  La.,  123. 

Phelps,  John  F.,  Lieutenant,  252. 

Phelps,  J.  W.,  Brigadier-General,  9, 
12,  15  ;  commands  division,  43  ; 
resigns,  43. 

Phelps,  S.  Ledyard,  Lieutenant-Com 
mander,  286,  287. 

Phillips,  Joseph,  Colonel  (C),  243. 

Pigman,  William  A.,  Captain,  263, 
305- 

Pillage,  132. 

Pinola,  13. 

Pittsburg^  144. 

Plains  Store.  La.,  battle  of ,  161,  162. 

Plaquemine,  Bayou,  La.,  87. 

Pleasant  Hill,  La.,  311,  313,  314  ; 
battle  of,  313-322. 

Point  Isabel,  Tex.,  occupied,  275. 

Polignac,  C.  J.,  Brigadier-General  (C), 
288,  315,  316,  320,  329,  344,  346. 

Polk,  Confederate  gunboat,  29. 

Pope,  John,  Major-General,  20,  27. 

Porter,  D.  D.,  Commander,  9,  15,  25- 
27,  45,  75,  83  ;  Admiral,  136,  144, 
148,  149,  153,  257,  283,  289,  291, 

295,   313,  324-327,  339- 

Porter,  Henry  M.,  Captain,  37  ; 
Major,  243. 

Porter's  plantation,  Madame,  105, 
107-109,  120. 

Porter,  William  D.,  Commander, 
U.S.N.,  36. 

Port  Hudson,  Confederates  occupy 
and  fortify,  41  ;  natural  strength, 
41,  61,  62,  68,  70,  72  ;  Farragut 
passes,  76-84  ;  demonstration,  77- 
84  ;  garrison,  81,  82  ;  turning  move 
ment,  85-87,  136,  141  ;  final  move- 


INDEX. 


523 


ment  on,   152-160 ;    invested,   160,    | 
163-166  ;  assault  of  May  27th,  166- 
183  ;    Confederate    strength,     163, 
164  ;  evacuation  ordered,  164  ;  navy 
at,   165,    182,   186  ;  siege  of,   185- 
234  ;  naval  batteries,  186,  211,  232  ; 
night  attack,  June  loth,  192  ;  bom 
bardment,    June    f3th,    192;    sum 
moned,   193  ;  refused,  194  ;  assault 
of  June  1 4th,  194-204  ;    neglect  of   | 
killed  and  wounded,  204  ;  compared   j 
with  Vicksburg,  208  ;  siege  works,    I 
210-212,    221-225  ;   stormers,   212,    | 
213  ;  surrender,  227-232  ;  prisoners 
taken,  233 ;  losses,  233,  234,  260. 

Port  Republic,  Va.,  401,  402. 

Potomac,  operations  on  the,  355-365. 

Potter,  O.  O.,  Captain,  439. 

Powell,  William  H.,  Colonel,  402, 
407,  408,  421,  432. 

Powers,  S.  P.,  Colonel  (C),  161. 

Price,  144,  225. 

Price,  Sterling,  Major-General  (C), 
284,  300,  334-336. 

Prince,    Edward,    Colonel,    143,    189, 

222. 

Princess  Royal,  243-245,  248. 
Provence,  David.  Colonel,  220,  221. 
Pyron,  Charles  L.,  Colonel  (C),  156, 
239,  242. 

Queen  of  the  West,  ram,  29,  30,  75  ; 
captured,  75,  76,  88,  104,  121,  122. 

Rams,  Ellet's  fleet  of,  24,  29. 

Ramseur,  S.  D.,  Major-General  (C), 
361,  375,  379,  33o,  382,  385,  39i, 
392,  398,  399,  411,  424,  427,  434, 

Ransom,  George  M.,  Lieutenant-Com 
mander  U.S.N.,  36,  39. 

Ransom,  Thomas  E.  G.,  Brigadier- 
General,  258,  276,  288,  289,  292, 
294,  296-305,  308,  310,  312. 

Rauch,  John  H.,  Medical  Director, 
263. 

Rawles,  J.  B.,  Lieutenant,  83,  161, 
162,  212,  260,  261,  280,  301,  306. 

Read,  Abner,  Commander,  248. 

Records,  not  found,  224. 

Red   Chief,    transport   (C),    captured, 

337- 

Red  Hill,  Cedar  Creek,  423. 
Red  River,  blockade  of,  33,  81,  84  ; 

first  march  to,  142,  and  back,  152  ; 

treacherous,  291,  292  ;  divides,  294, 

295  (see  Navy,  for  operations  on). 
Campaign,    first    steps,    282- 

285  ;      opening     moves,    285-291  ; 

the  march  on  Shreveport,  291-298  ; 


Sabine       Cross-Roads,       299-312  ; 

Pleasant  Hill,  313-322  ;  the  retreat, 

323-336  ;    the   dam,   337~342  ;    the 

end,  342-348. 
Re-enlisted  veterans,  280. 
Reily,  James,  Colonel  (C),  "106,   108, 

109,   117. 

Renshaw,  W.  B.,  Commander,  62. 
Review,  grand,  444,  445. 
Reynolds,  Joseph  J.,  Major-General, 

350,  351- 
Rhode  Island,  artillery,  ist,  battery  D 

(Buckley),  365,  421. 
cavalry,  2d  battalion,   78,   8*3, 

127,  129,  237,  238. 

3d  cavalry,  280. 

Rice,  C.  S.,  Captain,  277. 
Richmond,   13,   25,   61,   79,    165,   186, 

211,    225. 

Richmond,  La.,  236. 

Ricketts,  James  B.,  Major-General, 
356,  365,  380-382,  384,  385,  398, 
415,  419,  420,  436,  437. 

"  Rienzi,"  429,  430,  444. 

Rio  Grande,  mouth  of,  held,  275. 

Roberts,  Benjamin  S.,  Brigadier-Gen 
eral,  350,  353. 

Roberts,  G.  T.,   Colonel,   killed,   37, 

39- 

Robinson,  George  D.,  Colonel,  341. 
Robinson,   Harai,  Colonel,   131,  296, 

297,  302,  328. 

Rockfish  Gap,  Va.,  402,  403. 
Rodes,  R.  E.,  Major-General  (C),  375, 

378-380,    383-385,    390,    391,    394, 

411. 
Rodgers,  J.  L,  Lieutenant,  no,  in, 

113,   126. 

Rodman,    William     L.,     Lieutenant- 
Colonel,  killed,  182. 
Roe,  F.  A.,  Lieutenant  U.S.N.,  36. 
Root,  W.  H.,  Lieutenant,  268. 
Ross,  Benton  H.,  private,  441. 
Rosser,    Thomas    L.,    Major-General 

(C),  404,   409-411,   419,  422,   425, 

436,  440,  441. 

Rottaken,  H.  H.,  Captain,  301,  306. 
Round  Top,  signal  message  from,  407. 
Rountree,  L.  C.,  Colonel  (C),  273. 
Rowley,  W.  W.,  Captain,  60. 
Roy,  William,  Captain,  211. 
Rude's  Hill,  Va.,  401. 
Ruggles,    Daniel,     Brigadier-General 

(C),    33,    35,    4i. 
Russell,  David  A.,  Brigadier-General, 

357,  38i,  385,  389- 

Russell,  Edmund  H.,  Lieutenant,  213. 
Rust,   Albert,   Brigadier-General  (C), 

164. 
Rust,  Henry,  Jr.,  Colonel,  331,  333. 


524 


INDEX. 


Sabine  Cross-Roads,  La.,  296  ;  battle 
of,  298-312  (Confederate  name, 
Mansjield). 

Confederate     name    for    the 

battle  of  Pleasant  Hill,  313-322. 

Sabine    Pass,   attempt   on,   267-272  ; 

fails,  270-272. 

Sachem,  62,  64,  79,  165,  268-272. 
Sage,  Clinton  H.,  Colonel,  237. 
Saint  Martinville,  La.,  87,  122-124. 
Saint  Mary's,  48. 

Cannoneers    (see     Louisiana 

troops  (C),  Cornay1  s  battery). 

transport,  248,  357. 


Salt  works,  Avery's,  123,  124. 
Sanford,  Julius,  Captain,  240. 
Sanger,  Eugene  F.,  Medical  Director, 

281. 
Santa    Rosa    Island,    Fla.,    44,    45  ; 

engagement  on,  45. 
Sargent,  Charles  S.,  Lieutenant,  144, 

342. 
Sargent,   L.   D.,   Lieutenant- Colonel, 

IBS- 
Savannah,  Georgia,  442,  445-447. 
Saxon,  transport,  62. 
Sciota,  13,  46. 

Scott,  Francis,  Private,  executed,  247. 
Scott,  Winfield,  Lieutenant-General,  3. 
Scurry,  W.  R.  (C),  63,  287. 
Seawell,  W.  B.,  Captain  (C),  173. 
Sedgwick,  John,  Major-General,  206. 
Seger  (C),  48. 
Selden,    Joseph,    Lieutenant-Colonel, 

200. 
Semmes,  Oliver  J.,   Captain  (C),  99, 

101,  114,  115,  242,  247. 
Semmes,    Raphael,  Captain,  C.S.N., 

58. 

Sentell,  W.  H.,  Major,  342,  354. 
Seventeenth  Army  Corps,  detachment 

of,  285  (and  see  Smith,  T.  Kilby). 
Seward,  William  H.,  282. 
Shaffer,  J.  W.,  Colonel,  8. 
Shannon,  D.  W.,  Colonel  (C),  244. 
Sharpe,  Jacob,  Colonel,  97,  273,  281, 

289,  327,  328,  350,  381,  382,  384- 

387,  390.  393,  398,  446. 
Shaw,  W.  T.,  Colonel,  287,  315,  318- 

320. 

Shelby,  W.  B.,  Colonel  (C),  173. 
Sheldon,  Lionel  A.,  Colonel,  278. 
Shenandoah,  Army  of  the,  366,  442. 
Shenandoah    Valley,    352,    359-376  ; 

the    Opequon,     377-395  ;    Fisher's 

Hill,  396-409  ;  Tom's  Brook,  404  ; 

Cedar   Creek,    409-437  ;    the   end, 

438-443  ;    devastation,     371,    375, 

403,  404,  409. 
Shepard,  E.  M.,  Ensign,  186,  211. 


Shepley,  George  F.,  Colonel,  9,  13. 

Sheridan,  Philip  H.,  Major-General, 
commands  Army  of  the  Shenandoah, 
366-442  ;  devastation,  371,  375  ; 
depots,  376  ;  entrenchments,  376  ; 
called  to  Washington,  405-409  ; 
correspondence  with  Wright,  407, 
408  ;  rejoins  his  army,  428-432  ; 
enthusiasm,  431,  432  ;  farewell,  444. 

Sherman,  Thomas  W. ,  Brigadier- 
General,  commands  division,  43, 
66  ;  at  New  Orleans,  77  ;  joins 
Banks  at  Port  Hudson,  159-162 ; 
siege  of  Port  Hudson,  166  ;  first 
assault,  168,  169,  174,  176-179  ; 
wounded,  178,  182  ;  succeeded  by 
Dwight,  187. 

Sherman,  William  T.,  Major-General, 
68-71,  140,  205,  283-286,  292,  293, 
444. 

Shetucket,  transport,  65. 

Shiloh,  battle  of,  20,  35,  37. 

Ship  Island,  Miss.,  5,  6,  8,  13,  57,  59, 
60. 

Shipley's  house,  Dr.,  Cedar  Creek,  423. 

Shooting  of  Henry  Hamill,  134. 

Shreveport,  La.,  149,  283,  285,  291, 
293,  294,  296,  313. 

Shunk,  David,  Colonel,  350,  381,  386, 
387,  39°,  398,  415,  417,  421,  432, 
446. 

Sibley,  H.  H.,  Brigadier-General  (C), 
63,  86,  87,  115. 

Sibley,  H.  R.,  Captain,  439. 

Sickles,    Daniel    E.,    Major-General, 

351- 
Siege    operations    at     Port    Hudson, 

185-234. 
Signal,  343. 

Signal  service,  60,  78,  82,  83. 
Simmesport,  La.,  150,  154,  158,  344- 

347  ;    bridge   of    steamboats,    346, 

347- 
Sixteenth  Army  Corps,  detachment  of, 

285  (and  see  Mower,  J.  A.}. 
Sixth  Army  Corps,  355-367  (and  see 

also  Wright,  Ricketts,  Getty}. 
Sizer,   John   M.,  Lieutenant-Colonel, 

439- 

Slaves,  treatment  of,  40,  43. 
Smith,  Abel,  Jr.,  Lieutenant-Colonel, 

179;  killed,   182. 
Smith,    Andrew    J.,    Major-General, 

285-290,    292-297,    300,    311-313, 

316,  317,   319,   320,    326-330,   333, 

334,  344-347- 
Smith,   E.  Kirby,  Lieutenant-General 

(C),   148,   149,   156,  235,  236,  266, 

284,    294,  301,   302,  320-322,   329, 

336,  348. 


INDEX. 


525 


Smith,  Elisha  B.,  Colonel,  killed,  202. 

Smith,  James,  Lieutenant-Colonel, 
200  ;  Colonel,  328,  331. 

Smith,  Marshall  J.,  Colonel  (C),  230. 

Smith,  Martin  L,,  Major-General  (C), 
10,  18,  19,  21,  35. 

Smith,  Thomas  B.,  Colonel  (C),  35. 

Smith,  T.  Kilby,  Colonel,  226  ;  Brig 
adier-General,  285,  287,  295,  313, 
324,  325,  328,  333,  344,  345. 

"  Snicker's  Gap  War,"  358-360. 

Snow,  W.  K.,  Lieutenant,  123,  155. 

Soldier,  American,  character  of,  209, 
210. 

South  Carolina,  447. 

Southworth,    Irving    D.,    Lieutenant, 

315,  319- 

Spear,  A.  T.,  Acting  Master,  62. 
Speed,  Frederick,  Captain,  343. 
Speight,  A.  W.,  Colonel  (C),  273. 
Springfield      Landing,      La.      (below 

Shreveport),  295,  296,  313. 
Springfield   Landing,    La.  (near  Port 

Hudson),  surprised,  216. 
Stanton,  Edwin  M.,  tells  Halleck  to 

help  against  Vicksburg,  27. 
Starlight,     transport     (C),     captured, 

201,  337- 

Staunton,  Va.,  402,  403,  409. 
Stearns,  Albert,  Captain,  214. 
Steedman,  J.  G.  W.,  Colonel  (C),  230. 
Steele,      Frederick,      Major-General, 

283-285,    292,   294,    329,   334-336, 

348. 
Steele,     William,      Brigadier-General 

(C),  329,  344. 

Stein,  George  W.,  Captain,  341. 
Stephenson's  Depot,   Va.,    379,   380; 

winter  quarters,  441. 
Sterling's  plantation,  affair  at,  273. 
Stevens,  previously  Hart  (C),  122. 
Stickney,  Albert,  Lieutenant-Colonel, 

238,  239- 
Stone,  Charles  P.,  Brigadier-General, 

219,   220,  228,  229,  246,  262,  274, 

289,  303,  305,  327- 
Stone,  W.  B.,  Colonel,  243. 
Stormers,    Port    Hudson,     212,     213, 

232. 
Stragglers  at  Cedar  Creek,  428-430, 

436,  437- 
Straggling,  132. 

Strain,  Alexander,  Lieutenant-Colo 
nel,  382. 

Strasburg,  Va.,  397,  398,  412. 
Strong,  George  C.,  Major,  8. 
Suffolk,  transport,  269. 
Sullivan,    J.    C.,    Brigadier-General, 

359- 
Summer  quarters,  1863,  256. 


Summit  Point,  Va. ,  371. 

Sumter,  36. 

Swann,   Robert  P.,  Ensign,  186,  211. 

Switzerland,  ram,  144,  154. 

Sykes,  transport,  214. 

Taft,  Alonzo,  D.,  Captain,  365,  398, 
421. 

Tappan,  James  C.,  Brigadier-General 
(C),  314,  315,  317,  320. 

Taylor,  Franck,  Lieutenant,  246,  315. 

Taylor,  Richard,  Major-General  (C), 
commands  in  Western  Louisiana, 
44,  46,  48,  72,  73,  89,  94  ;  at 
Bisland,  99,  101  ;  Irish  Bend,  104- 

106,  108,  109,  112-114,  116-119 ; 

retreat  to  Red  River,  121,  122, 
124,  128-130,  146,  148  ;  retires  on 
Shreveport,  149  ;  raids  La  Fourche 
and  blockades  the  river,  214,  215, 
229,  233,  235,  236,  242,  247,  249- 
251,  254,  255,  266,  274,  275,  284, 
288,  290,  296,  300,  302-304,  310, 
311,  313-317,  320-323,  325,  329; 
342,  345,  346,  348. 

Teche  Campaign,  46,  72,  73,  85-134  ; 
naval  operations,  88,  89. 

Tennessee,  247,  248. 

Tennessee,  Army  of  the,  54,  60,  61, 
68-71. 

2oth  (C),  35. 

Tenney,  J.  T.,  Lieutenant,  130. 

Tenth  Army  Corps,  446. 

Terre  Bonne,  La.,  47. 

Terrell,  A.  W.,  Brigadier-General  (C), 
330. 

Terry,  Alfred  H.,  Major-General, 
446. 

Terry,  Edward,  Lieutenant  -  Com 
mander  U.S.N.,  1 86,  211. 

"Texas,  A  Foothold  in,"  264-276, 
280,  282,  283,  348. 

coast    occupied,     275,     276  ; 

evacuated,    342. 

included  in  Department  of  the 

Gulf,  55. 

Texas  troops  (U),  ist  cavalry,  62, 
267,  275. 

Texas  troops  (C),  ist  Partisan  regi 
ment  (Lane's),  155,  243,  244. 

2d  cavalry  (Pyron),   156,   239, 

242. 

4th  (Reily),  106,  109. 

3d  Confederate  Arizona  bri 
gade  (Phillips),  243. 

4th  Confederate  (Hardeman), 

245- 

5th  (Green),  99. 

5th    Confederate     (Shannon), 

244. 


526 


INDEX. 


Texas,  6th  Confederate  (Stone),  243, 

245. 
7th      Confederate   (Herbert), 


244. 


Cook's  regiment,  63,  272. 
Gould's  regiment,  325. 
Rountree's  battalion,  273. 


Waller's  (i3th)  battalion,  97, 

99,  128,  129,  155,  242,  273. 

Woods's  regiment,  325. 

(W.     H.)    Parsons's    cavalry 

brigade,    325. 

Scurry's  brigade,  63,  287. 


Sibley's  brigade,  63,  155. 

Barnes's  battery. 

Gonzales's  battery,  243. 

McMahan's  battery,  325,  330. 

Moseley's  battery,  325,  330. 

Nettles's  battery,  325,  330. 

Nichols's  battery,  247. 

Valverde  battery,  99,  241. 

West's  battery,  325,  330,  343. 

Wilson's  batter}',  63. 

Thayer,  J.M.,  Brigadier-General,  292, 

Thibodeaux,  La.,  46,  47. 

Thirteenth  Army  Corps,  139,  258, 
259,  268,  273-278,  288,  289,  305, 
307,  312,  341-343,  348,  350  ;  new, 
354,  355- 

Thoburn,  J.  M.,  Brigadier-General, 
359,  39°,  391,  406,  414,  415,  417, 
418,  436. 

Thomas,  George  H.,  Major-General, 
393- 

Thomas,  Stephen,  Colonel,  48,  169- 
171,  188,  202,  232,  389,  414-416, 
^  419,  420,  423. 

Thorn,  George,  Colonel,  409. 

Thompson,  A.  P.,  Captain,  45. 

Thompson,  A.  P.,  Colonel  (C),  35, 
38. 

Thompson,  Augustine,  Captain,  243. 

Three  Top  Mountain,  396  ;  signal 
message  from,  407  ;  Gordon  and 
Hotchkiss  reconnoitre,  410-412. 

Tibbetts,  Howard,  Acting  Master, 
268. 

Tiemann,  William  F.,  Major,  361, 
375- 

Torbert,  A.  T.  A.,  Major-General, 
371-377,  39°-393,  397,  398,  400, 
402-404,  406,  408,  409,  415,  416, 
423,  427,  436,  437,  440,  441. 

Tortugas,  Dry,  Fla.,  45,  259. 

Trans-Mississippi  Department,  Con 
federate,  266. 

Trull,  George  G.,  Lieutenant,  36,  267. 

Tupelo,  Miss.,  Beauregard  withdraws 
to,  26. 

Turner,  J.  W.,  Colonel,  8. 


Tyler,  U.  S.  gunboat,  29-31. 

Ulffers,  H.  A.,  Captain,  138. 
Ullmann,   Daniel,  Brigadier-General, 

218,  219,  261. 
Uncle  Ben  (C),  272. 
Upton,     Emory,      Brigadier-General 

415. 
U.   S.  Artillery,  A,   1st  (Bainbridge), 

at   Bisland,    98  ;  at   Port   Hudson, 

171,  210,  221,  224,  267. 
F,   ist  (Duryea),   at  Bisland, 

98,  125,  130;  at  Port  Hudson,  171, 

188,   191,   194,  210,  221,  267,  280  ; 

at  Mansura,  345. 

L,  ist  (Closson),  at  Irish  Bend, 


107,  no,  124,  246,  267,  315. 

C,    2d    (Rodgers),    at    Irish 

Bend,  no,  in,  113;  in  pursuit,  126. 
G,  5th  (Rawles),  83,  161,  162, 


260,  261,  280,  301,  306. 

left  in  Louisiana,  353. 


U.  S.  colored  troops,  97th,  341 
99th,  341. 

"  Valley  of  Humiliation,  The,"  368. 
Vance,  Joseph  W.,  Colonel,  300-302, 

304- 
Vanderbilt)  57. 

Vanderbilt,  Cornelius,  57. 

Van  Dorn,  Earl,  Major-General  (C), 
26,  32,  33,  41,  44,  69. 

Van  Petten,  John  B.,  Lieutenant- 
Colonel,  170,  202,  213. 

Van  Zandt,  Jacob,  Colonel,  166,  169, 
170. 

Varuna,  13,  14. 

Verdun  Landing,  La.,  105. 

Vermilion  River,  or  Bayou,  La., 
122,  124,  126,  128. 

Vermont,  7th,  16,  22  ;  at  Baton 
Rouge,  36,  37,  242  ;  re-enlisted 
veterans,  280. 

8th,  8,  48,  73,  74  ;  at  Bisland, 

98,  147  ;  at  Port  Hudson,  170,  357, 
382  ;  at  Opequon,  388-390  ;  at 
Cedar  Creek,  420,  445. 

ist  battery  (Duncan,  Hebard), 

8,  43,  267,  316,  332. 

2d  battery  (Holcomb),  16,  43, 

62,  64,  65,  161,  260,  261. 

Veteran  re-enlistments,  280. 

Vicksburg,  defences  of,  19,  25  ;  de 
scribed,  25  ;  first  attempt  on  (But 
ler's),  16-31;  second  (Sherman's),  69, 
140  ;  third  (Grant's),  136,  140,  144, 
164,  183,  184,  204,  205  ;  surrender, 
225,  226,  228,  236. 

Vicksburg  expedition,  co-operation 
with,  60,  68-71. 


INDEX. 


527 


Vincent,   W.    G.,   Colonel    (C),    105- 

109,  117,  290. 
"Voice    of     the    American     People, 

The,"  392. 
Volunteers,    American,    character   of, 

209,  210. 

Wainwright,  J.  M.,  Commander,  62. 

Wainwright,  Richard,  Captain, 
U.S.N.,  13. 

Walker,  Duncan  S.,  Captain,  213, 
225,  228,  229,  248,  249  ;  Lieutenant- 
Colonel,  439. 

Walker,  John  G.,  Brigadier-General, 
(C),  235,  236,  242,  275,  287,  288, 
300,  302,  304,  305,  315,  317,  319, 
320,  329,  348. 

Wallace,  Lewis,  Major-General, 
356. 

Waller,  E.,  Jr.,  Lieutenant-Colonel 
(C),  97,  101,  242,  273. 

Warner,  Alexander,  Lieutenant-Colo 
nel,  113. 

Warner,  transport,  343. 

War  Records  office,  224. 

Warren,  Fitz-Henry,  Brigadier-Gen 
eral,  342. 

Warrenton,  Miss.,  18. 

Washburn,  C.  C.,  Major-General,  258, 
273-278. 

Washburn,  Henry  D.,  Colonel, 
446. 

Washburne,  Elihu  B.,  54. 

Washington,  D.  C.,  defences  of,  55  ; 
relief  of,  355-357  ;  grand  review  at, 

444,  445- 

Washington,  La.,  126. 

Washington,  statue  of,  40,  42. 

Washita  River,  La.,  286. 

Waterloo,  La.,  83  ;  skirmish,  159. 

WTatters,  John,  Lieutenant-Com 
mander,  243. 

Waynesboro',  Va.,  402. 

Weaver,  A.  W.,  Lieutenant-Com 
mander,  214,  243. 

Webb  (C),  75,  88. 

Weitzel,  Godfrey,  Lieutenant,  8,  35, 
44,  66  ;  Brigadier-General,  45  ; 
commands  reserve  brigade,  45 ; 
operations  in  La  Fourche,  1862, 
46-48  ;  commands  district  of  La 
Fourche,  48,  49  ;  objects  to  colored 
troops,  50  ;  destroys  Cotton  (C), 
73,  74  ;  in  La  Fourche,  1863,  77  ; 
plans,  85-87  ;  in  Teche  campaign, 
88-93  ;  at  Bisland,  96-102,  104, 
115,  119-121  ;  pursuit,  122,  125  ; 
march  to  Red  River,  144,  147-149  ; 
to  Port  Hudson,  152-155,  166  ; 
first  assault,  167,  169-171,  174,  175, 


186,  188,  192  ;  second  assault,  196, 
198,  199,  202,  229-233  ;  commands 
ist  division,  233,  250  ;  at  Kock's 
plantation,  251,  254-256,  259,  260, 
267-271,  273,  277,  281. 

Wellington  at  Badajos  and  Ciudad 
Rodrigo,  208. 

Westfield,  62,  64. 

West  Florida,  District  of,  44. 

West,  J.  A.  A.,  Lieutenant  (C),  101. 

West  Mississippi,  Military  Division 
of,  347- 

West  Virginia,  Army  of  (see  Crook> 
George), 

Wharton,  G.  C.,  Brigadier-General(C), 
379,  38o,  390,  391,  411,  416,  417, 
420,  424,  425,  427,  441. 

Wharton,  John  A.,  Major-General 
(C),  329,  333,  345. 

Wheaton,  Frank,  Brigadier-General, 
398,  415,  422,  423,  425,  426,  431, 
432. 

White  Post,  Va..  371. 

Whitfield,  J.  F.,  Captain  (C),  173. 

Whittemore,  H.  O.,  Major,  15. 

Wickham,  W.  H.,  Brigadier-General 
(C),  400,  402. 

Wilkinson,  Robert  F.,  Captain,  439. 

Willcox,  O.  B.,  Major-General,  444. 

Williamson,  H.  F.,  Captain,  45,  49, 
90,  125. 

Williamson,  John  J.,  Lieutenant,  281, 
342. 

Williams,  John,  private,  197. 

Williams,  Thomas,  Brigadier-General, 
9,  12  ;  first  attempt  on  Vicksburg, 
17-31  ;  digs  canal  opposite,  23,  28, 
29,  31  ;  in  Battle  of  Baton  Rouge, 
33-39  ;  killed,  39  ;  character,  39, 
40  ;  on  treatment  of  negroes,  40  ; 
singular  arrests,  40, 

Wilson,  Bartholomew  W.,  Lieutenant- 
Colonel,  399. 

Wilson,  Henry,  Lieutenant  U.S.N., 
62. 

Wilson,  G.  R.,  Captain  (C),  63. 

Wilson,  James  Grant,  Colonel,  342. 

Wilson,  James  Henry,  Brigadier-Gen 
eral,  374-376,  379-381,  392,  402. 

Wilson's  Farm,  La.,  cavalry  affair, 
297. 

Winchester,  Va.,  Averell's  fight,  361, 
371,  372,  374  ;  Sheridan's  battle, 
"  the  Opequon,"  378-395. 

Wingfield,  J.  H.,  Lieutenant-Colonel 
(C),  166. 

Winona,  13,  14,  214,  243,  245. 

Wisconsin,  4th,  6,  16-18,  21-24,  30  ; 
at  Baton  Rouge,  36-38,  43  ;  at. 
Bisland,  93,  95,  96,  98,  130 : 


528 


INDEX. 


mounted,   131,  154  ;  at  Port  Hud 
son,  190,  196,  197,  203,  232. 

Wisconsin,  23d,  277. 
Wissahickon,  13. 

Witham,  C.  H.,  Lieutenant,  214. 
Wood,  Almon  A.,  Lieutenant,  157. 
Woodbury,  D.  P.,  Brigadier-General, 

155- 

Wood  ford,  transport,  291. 

Woodruff,  Henry  D.,  Lieutenant- 
Colonel,  263. 

Woods,  E.  P.,  private,  197. 

Woodstock,  Va.,  399,  401. 

Woolsey,  M.  B.,  Lieutenant-Com 
mander,  243,  245. 


Wordin,  C.  W.,  Lieutenant-Colonel, 
238. 

Wright,  Horatio  G.,  Major-General, 
356-367,  37i,  372,  374,  375,  379- 
386,  389,  391-393,  397-402,  404- 
410,  415,  416,  418,  419,  421-425, 
429-437,  441. 

Wrotnowski,  L.  A.,  Lieutenant, 
killed,  182. 

Yazoo  River,  Confederate  gunboats 
in,  29,  30  ;  naval  fight  in,  29,  30. 

Yellow  Bayou,  La.,  skirmish,  345  ; 
fight,  346. 

Young's  Point,  La.,  affair,  236. 


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